Petition to reduce a fine to the tax office: sample 2021

Tax offense, according to Art. 106 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is an illegal action (or inaction) that led to a violation of tax legislation. Types of tax offenses include:

submission of knowingly incorrect information about income to the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate (INFS);
concealment of income;
understatement of the tax base;
violation of deadlines for filing a declaration or paying taxes, etc.

Organizations and individuals starting from the age of 16 are responsible for tax offenses. For minor offenses, a fine or penalty may be imposed. For more serious crimes, for example, concealing income over a long period of time, using fraudulent money laundering schemes, etc., in addition to the investigation by the Federal Tax Service, other cases are opened, depending on the composition of the crime - criminal, administrative and others. There are also circumstances that exclude or mitigate the taxpayer’s guilt. In these cases, an individual or organization can submit a petition to the tax office for a reduction in the fine or a complete exemption from it. Let's consider under what circumstances this is possible.

Extenuating circumstances

The list of circumstances that a tax authority or court can take into account as mitigating liability for a tax offense is given in Article 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. It is advisable to submit a petition to the tax office to reduce the fine if the following circumstances exist:

committing an offense due to difficult circumstances of a personal or family nature,
violation of the law by a person subjected to threats or coercion using material, official or other dependence,
difficult financial situation of the individual being held accountable,
other circumstances that the Federal Tax Service or the court consider to be a circumstance mitigating liability. For example, if the taxpayer independently discovered and corrected errors in the declaration, reporting this to the tax office, this may be considered a circumstance mitigating his responsibility.

As you can see, this list is not exhaustive; any other circumstance that the court or tax authorities deem worthy of attention to reduce the penalty, they have the right to apply as a mitigation. Therefore, it is advisable to include as many similar circumstances as possible in your petition to the tax office to reduce the amount of the fine.

What other facts can the taxpayer list in his favor:

the offense was committed without intent,
the taxpayer is conscientious, pays taxes on time and submits reports,
bringing to tax liability for the first time,
documented presence of large debts to personnel, creditors, or a state close to bankruptcy,
disproportion between the amount of the fine and the offense committed,
insignificant period of delay in submitting reports,
presence of overpayments on other taxes,
payment of debt before a decision on prosecution is made,
the presence of force majeure (natural disasters, fire, flood, etc.),
Individual entrepreneurs can also point out such circumstances as old age, disability, illness, presence of dependents, etc.

The influence of mitigating and aggravating circumstances on the amount of the fine

The Tax Code provides that in the presence of mitigating circumstances, the fine must be reduced by at least 2 times, and in aggravating circumstances it increases by 100% compared to the amount established by the relevant article of the Tax Code. In this case, repeated prosecution for a similar violation is recognized as an aggravating circumstance (Articles 114, 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The Tax Code does not determine how the amount of a fine should be determined in the presence of mitigating and aggravating circumstances. There are court decisions that indicate that the presence of aggravating circumstances is not an obstacle to the use of mitigating circumstances (see the decisions of the Arbitration Court of the Volga District dated December 23, 2016 No. F06-16503/2016 in case No. A65-5156/2016, the Arbitration Court of the Central District dated 07/14/2015 No. F10-2166/2015 in case No. A64-4167/2014, FAS North Caucasus District dated 05/08/2013 in case No. A32-13690/2012, FAS Ural District dated 06/20/2011 No. F09-3151/11 case No. A76-16585/2010, FAS Volga-Vyatka District dated 03/05/2010 in case No. A82-9056/2009, etc.)

Deadline for submitting a request to cancel a fine to the tax office

A letter requesting a reduction in tax penalties or their cancellation must be drawn up and sent within the prescribed period. This period is the same, regardless of how the tax offense was detected:

if a tax audit was carried out (desk or on-site), the period is 1 month from the date of receipt of the audit report by the taxpayer (clause 6 of Article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
in other cases – 1 month from the date of receipt of the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate’s report on the tax offense (clause 5 of Article 101.4 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Results

Having received an act of prosecution for violation of tax laws in the form of a fine, analyze whether you have mitigating circumstances to reduce it. The list of mitigating circumstances discussed in the article is not exhaustive; any fact that is documented and capable of arousing sympathy can be recognized as a mitigating circumstance. As a rule, mitigating circumstances are assessed in a comprehensive manner, so the more you can declare, the greater the likelihood that the fine will be reduced by 2 or more times.

To submit a request to the tax authorities to reduce the fine, you have a month from the date of receipt of the act of prosecution, and numerous judicial practices on the use of mitigating circumstances will help you argue your position.
You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.

What should a taxpayer do?

Expert opinion

Kostenko Tamara Pavlovna

Lawyer with 10 years of experience. Author of numerous articles, teacher of Law

It should be noted that the presence of mitigating circumstances is resolved by tax authorities with companies at the stage of reviewing materials from field and (or) desk audits.

First of all, consideration of the possibility of reducing the applicable penalty begins with the taxpayer filing a petition for a reduction in penalties.

There is no specifically established form for the application. It is submitted in free form and contains circumstances that may mitigate tax liability.

As a rule, the following are taken into account as mitigating liability:

the nature and significance of the taxpayer’s activities (for example, a socially-oriented institution);

no damage to the budget, insignificant delay (one day), no harmful consequences of the offense;

independent correction of the violation before the start of the tax audit, payment of additional tax;

legal uncertainty regarding the provision of benefits that existed at the time the tax offense was committed.

Judicial practice to reduce fines

As practice shows, companies manage to reduce tax penalties many times over. True, often the circumstances that serve to reduce the amount of fines are considered in the courts.

The judges take into account that the offense took place for the first time, no arrears or penalties were accrued, the policyholder did not have the intent to commit a violation of the law (Decision of the Moscow City Court of November 14, 2016 No. A40-197613/2016).

In another dispute, the fine was reduced from 131,000 rubles to 1,000 rubles, i.e. 131 times (Decision of the Administrative Court of the Republic of Mari El dated December 1, 2016 No. A38-9108/2016). The arbitration court took into account the following circumstances as mitigating liability: recognition of an offense, commission of an offense for the first time, absence of negative consequences for employees and the budget, socially significant nature of the enterprise's activities.

Under similar circumstances, the court reduced the fine by 73 times (Decision of the Court of Justice of the Nizhny Novgorod Region dated January 10, 2017 No. A43-30751/2016) and 100 times (Decision of the Court of Justice of the Sverdlovsk Region dated September 12, 2016 No. A60-33366/2016) .

The social orientation of the taxpayer’s activities (construction of social facilities) allowed the company to reduce the fine by 4 times (Decision of the Autonomous Court of the Chuvash Republic dated April 23, 2018 No. A79-9434/2017).

The absence of intent to evade payment of contributions, independent, albeit late, submission of tax calculations, the formal nature of the offense, the insignificance of the period of delay in fulfilling the obligation to submit reports can also reduce the fine for late submission of the report to its minimum value - 1,000 rubles (Resolutions AS of the Central District dated October 25, 2016 No. A84-985/2016, East Siberian District dated October 19, 2016 No. A78-1326/2016, decision of the AS of the Krasnoyarsk Territory dated July 18, 2016 No. A33-9554/2016) .

tax audit on-site VAT audit

Overview of an example petition

The main goal when drawing up a petition is to reduce penalties against the taxpayer. The tax office's response to such requests will not always be positive. But with proper registration, the chances of a fine reduction increase.

Important! If the request is granted, the amount of the fine is reduced. At the same time, the amount of debt and penalties remains the same.

Information about the addressee (name of the tax office, full name of the head).
Information about the applicant (full name and place of residence of the individual). If the application is from an organization, you must include its full name, TIN, and location.
Name of the form.
Details of the inspection.
List of mitigating circumstances with reference to Article 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
Request to take into account mitigating circumstances and reduce the fine.
List of attached documents.
Signature of the author and date of preparation of the document.

Based on a petition to the tax office to reduce the fine, its size can be reduced by half or more. It is better to attach documentation that confirms the reasons for the identified violation. The form must not contain errors or corrections. When writing, it is recommended to focus on the sample.

If the request remains unanswered

It is quite possible that the application sent to the tax office will not be taken into account and the amount of the fine will remain the same. Then you should contact the Federal Tax Service with a complaint that the mitigating circumstances stated in the letter to the tax office about reducing the fine, a sample of which we provided above, were not taken into account when the tax inspectorate made a decision. The content of such a complaint is discussed in detail in the Information of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation dated 02/09/2011.

If in this case a positive result is not obtained, and the amount of the fine remains significant, the decision of the tax authorities will have to be challenged in court.

When and where is the application sent?

If, as a result of an audit, a fine is imposed on an organization or entrepreneur, this decision can be appealed in court or to the tax office. The taxpayer independently decides where the application will be sent.

You must contact these authorities within the following time frames:

To the court - within three months from the date the taxpayer learned of the violation of his rights.
To the regional tax office - within a month after receiving the decision to apply penalties. You can contact the Federal Tax Service of Russia within three months from the date of the decision of the inspectorate for the region.

Two copies of the application must be prepared. One of them is transferred to the office, and the applicant will keep the second for himself (after an acceptance mark is placed on it).

You can submit a petition not only during a personal visit to the court or the tax office. It can be sent by mail in a valuable letter with a list of the contents. In addition, the government services website has a special service where you can leave an electronic appeal.

2021 sample

Anyone who is fined in 2021 is given the right, within ten days from the date of imposition of the administrative penalty, to file a petition for the presence of mitigating circumstances and a review of the amount of the fine.

This application is subject to consideration for another ten days, if the information provided does not need to be verified. If it is subject to review, it may take another one to two months.

The penalty officer’s task is to correctly and competently draw up a written petition to the Federal Tax Service regarding mitigating circumstances. Otherwise, it can easily be challenged and invalidated. There is no required form to fill out. Everyone who draws up such a petition writes it in any form.

However, there is a list of mandatory fields that must be filled out:

Personal information of the head of the tax office in whose name the application is being submitted.
Information about the applicant : full name of the legal entity, registration address, license number and date of issue, contact numbers.
Indication of the document or act according to which the applicant was fined. It is necessary to indicate the date of its registration.
Description of the results of the audit by tax department employees, indicating the results and violations identified.
An indication of mitigating circumstances that, in the applicant’s opinion, need to be taken into account.
Please review the amount of penalties downward, taking into account mitigating factors.
List of attachments to the petition . The appendices are evidentiary documents confirming the presence of such mitigating factors.
Personal painting and number of composition . The signature is placed by the financially responsible person - the chief accountant or the head of the organization.

In order to correctly and competently write a petition, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the list of mitigating factors and the sample filling.

In what cases is the fine reduced?

Tax legislation allows the fine to be reduced in the presence of mitigating circumstances.

difficult financial situation of the taxpayer;
presence of overpayment of taxes for the current period;
recording the first case of violation;
minor delay in submitting your tax return;
disproportionality of the violation to the sanctions imposed;
payment of the debt before the tax inspectorate makes a decision;
presence of credit obligations.

Expert opinion

Kostenko Tamara Pavlovna

Lawyer with 10 years of experience. Author of numerous articles, teacher of Law

In the case of organizations and entrepreneurs, a justified reason for mitigating sanctions may be technical malfunctions, as a result of which documents were transferred with a delay.

Entrepreneurs and other individuals may indicate the presence of a disability or illness as a mitigating circumstance. Valid reasons for delay include participating in disaster relief efforts or supporting dependents. The holder of state awards may have their fine reduced.

The list of mitigating circumstances indicates the first violation. If such a case is re-registered, the fine will increase significantly.

This is important to know: Agreement of intent for cooperation: sample 2021

The following may be mitigating factors when considering an application:

Absence of malicious intent in committing an action,
Conscientiousness of the taxpayer, timely payment of taxes and submission of reports,
First bringing to tax liability,
Documentary confirmation of the existence of financial obligations and debts on them,
Presence of overpayments for other types of taxes,
Payment of debts before a decision on prosecution is made,
Disproportion between penalties and the act itself,
Minor delay,
The presence of force majeure circumstances,
For individual entrepreneurs, such circumstances may also include advanced age, the presence of dependents, illness or disability.

If one of the above circumstances occurs, the amount of the fine may be reduced by at least half the amount established by law. This rule also applies to minimum fines. The application to the tax office is considered within 10 days; if additional checks are necessary, this period can be increased to 30 days.

Is it possible to lift sanctions?

The Tax Code contains a list of reasons that allow you to completely exclude the payer’s guilt and cancel the fine. These exceptional circumstances include:

Health status. Due to illness at the time of the violation, the citizen could not fully understand the consequences of his decisions and fully control his actions.
Extraordinary circumstances. The cause of the violation was a natural disaster or other incident over which the taxpayer could not influence.

In order to achieve a positive response from the tax authorities or a court decision, in addition to the petition, you must provide documentary evidence of the existence of such circumstances.

Difficult financial situation

The difficult financial situation of a company is one of the most popular reasons for tax violations. However, there is no clearly established judicial practice regarding it. Some courts consider this reason to be valid (resolutions of the Court of Justice of the West Siberian District dated 02.13.2017 No. F04-6898/2016, Volga-Vyatka District dated 06.07.2016 No. F01-1895/2016, Central District dated 07.14.2015 No. F10-2166/ 2015), while others do not (resolution of the Moscow District AS of September 7, 2016 No. F05-12804/16).

But not so long ago, the Federal Tax Service recognized that the difficult financial situation of an organization is a circumstance that can be considered mitigating at the discretion of the court or inspection. Therefore, companies should try to reduce the size of sanctions if there is reason to consider their financial condition to be dire. The chances of this happening are high.

But the question immediately arises: what specific circumstances may indicate a difficult situation in the company? The Federal Tax Service of Russia in its explanation names some of them: liquidation of an enterprise, reorganization of the taxpayer, bankruptcy procedures, failure to conduct business activities and even the seasonal nature of work.

But in reality there are more such reasons. These may include:

reduction in supply volumes, debts to banks and outstanding accounts payable (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the West Siberian District dated June 3, 2014 No. A27-8854/2013);
the presence of a large loss (resolution of the AS of the West Siberian District dated February 13, 2017 No. F04-6898/2016);
lack of working capital to pay the tax (resolution of the AS of the Ural District dated March 4, 2019 No. F09-290/2019, Volga District dated February 14, 2019 No. F06-42685/2018);
the presence of arrears in payment of wages to employees (resolution of the Volga District Autonomous District of October 17, 2018 No. F06-38650/2018);
decrease in revenue by a significant percentage compared to the previous year (resolution of the North-Western District Administration dated March 1, 2018 No. F07-507/2018);
downtime of the enterprise (resolution of the Central District Administration of July 14, 2015 No. F10-2166/2015);
reconstruction of production (resolution of the Central District Administration of July 14, 2015 No. F10-2166/2015).

But it’s not enough to just point to a difficult financial situation. It must be documented. For example, if the presence of losses, debts to banks and downtime of the enterprise are cited as a difficult financial situation, then copies of loan agreements and agreements on opening a credit line, tax reporting, copies of orders on downtime of the enterprise will serve as evidence (resolution of the Central District Administration dated July 14, 2015 No. F10-2166/2015).

It would be good if specialists (in-house or third-party) carried out an analysis of the financial condition of the enterprise, confirming the deplorable situation (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Volga District dated April 29, 2014 No. A57-16413/2013).

Tax penalties can be canceled or mitigated

a combination of difficult personal (family) circumstances (for example, poor health or disability, the presence of children or dependents, difficult financial situation, mortgage debt, etc.);
coercion to commit a crime under threats or under the influence of dependence on a person forcing the commission of an offense (for example, a boss, under threat of dismissal, forces an accountant to falsify data submitted to the INFS);
difficult financial situation of the offender;
other circumstances that the court recognizes as mitigating.

Tax sanctions are applied by the INFS or the court, depending on mitigating or aggravating circumstances. A person subjected to tax collection is subject to sanctions for a year from the date of entry into force of the court decision.

We failed to challenge the fine - we are seeking to reduce its size

Having established facts that taxpayers have committed tax offenses, tax authorities impose additional fines on them. And even if the taxpayer agrees with the tax authorities’ decision, it is possible to achieve a significant reduction in the amount of the fine. A correctly drafted application by the taxpayer to reduce the fine will help with this.

The fine amounts for various types of tax offenses are given in Chapter 16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

In this case, the amount of the fine specified in the tax audit report may be reduced.

The provisions of Article 114 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation allow companies to claim a reduction in the amount of the fine, depending on the presence of mitigating circumstances. The list of mitigating circumstances is open.

Thus, circumstances mitigating liability may include:

committing an offense due to a combination of difficult personal or family circumstances;

committing an offense under the influence of threat or coercion or due to financial, official or other dependence;

difficult financial situation of an individual held accountable for committing a tax offense;

other circumstances that the court or tax authority considering the case may be recognized as mitigating liability (Article 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

If there is at least one mitigating circumstance, the amount of the fine shall be reduced by no less than two times. The maximum amount of reduction has not been established. This means that the taxpayer can reduce the amount of fines by several times.

We are preparing a petition to reduce penalties

If the organization has the status of a budgetary institution or operates in socially significant areas or organizes the supply of food products for the budgetary sector, then these circumstances can also be indicated in the application.

If the taxpayer is sure that the fine imposed by the regulatory authority is unlawful, then it is possible to challenge it. This can also be done pre-trial by writing a petition to the tax office to cancel the fine.

Objections to the tax authority’s act are submitted within the same time frame as the request for mitigation of sanctions. If the objections are not taken into account and the decision to collect a fine is nevertheless made, then the taxpayer has the opportunity to contact the Federal Tax Service with a complaint against the actions of the Federal Tax Service.

Upon review, the Federal Tax Service will make a decision:

Wording options for the petition

The following may be cited as mitigating facts:

committing an offense for the first time;
unintentionality of actions;
impossibility of paying wages to employees due to the collection of a fine;
that the activity is unprofitable or seasonal;
that the organization is a bona fide taxpayer, etc.

If reporting is overdue, the following may be recognized as mitigating facts:

disproportionate punishment to the nature and gravity of the offense committed;
insignificance of delay;
lack of intent to commit an offense;
absence of negative consequences for the budget;
a technical failure that prevented the report from being submitted on time;
the fact of committing a violation for the first time.

In the case of indicating family situations provided for in Art. 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, if possible, a petition to cancel a fine to the tax office or court must contain copies of documents confirming the existence of circumstances mitigating liability.

Circumstances mitigating punishment: sample petition to court 2021

When filing a petition for commutation of punishment, it is important to indicate reasoned and clear grounds that will be sufficient for a pardon. The completed application is sent for consideration to the president, who is replaced by a special commission created to resolve such issues.

The petition for mitigation of punishment for an administrative offense is based on the points specified in Article 4.2. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. For example, a petition may be submitted to the tax office to reduce the fine or to change the decision of the traffic police to deprive of rights to another punishment.

Reasons for reducing the administrative fine in 2021: studying the Administrative Code

In 2021, punishment for committing an administrative offense can be imposed only within the limits established by the provisions of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (CAO). When assigning such a punishment to an individual, the following must be taken into account:

The nature of the administrative offense committed;
The identity of the person who committed the administrative offense, as well as his property status;
Circumstances mitigating administrative liability.

What exactly are the circumstances referred to in the last paragraph? To answer this question we need to turn to the text of Art. 4.2. Code of Administrative Offences. In accordance with the provisions of this article, the following circumstances are recognized as mitigating administrative liability:

Committing an administrative offense in a state of strong emotional excitement (affect);
Committing an administrative offense due to difficult personal or family circumstances;
Commitment of an administrative offense by a person under the age of 18;
Commitment of an administrative offense by a pregnant woman;
Commitment of an administrative offense by a woman with a young child;
Voluntary reporting of an administrative offense;
Voluntary cessation of unlawful behavior;
Voluntary compensation for damage caused;
Voluntary elimination of the harm caused;
Providing assistance to the body authorized to carry out proceedings on an administrative offense;
Preventing the harmful consequences of a committed offense;
Repentance of the guilty person.

Note! This list is not exhaustive. In other words, the person considering the case of an administrative offense has the right to recognize as mitigating circumstances not specified in the Code of Administrative Offenses.

Types of offense

The law defines a fairly large list of reasons why an organization may be subject to administrative penalties.

ATTENTION! The imposition of a new fine does not relieve the payment of outstanding fines.

List of the most common and common reasons for imposing a fine:

Failure to comply with the deadlines for filing a declaration provided for in Article 119 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation . In this case, the amount of the fine determines the number of days for which the delivery of the declaration to the tax inspector was delayed. Sometimes delays occur through no fault of the taxpayer. Therefore, when filing a return, you need to take into account some additional time costs.
When calculating and determining the amount of the tax deduction, the responsible person deliberately underestimates the amount of the deduction. Thus, Article 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is violated.
There are no cash registers at points of sale. This means that goods are sold without providing buyers with a receipt, which means that VAT is not deducted to the state budget. With this violation, sales volume and cost of goods do not play any role.
Concealment of information about active and closed bank accounts of the company.

Most often, such violations of current tax legislation are detected during scheduled and unscheduled inspections. Such verification usually lasts 3-5 days.

ATTENTION! For those who violate the law not for the first time, and the violations are systematic, the maximum amount of the fine is assessed.

The legal framework specifies the following exceptional situations:

no penalties were imposed for the primary violation;
The second fine was imposed earlier than the initial one.

A tax return, like any other document, has a validity period. It is defined by law at 6 months. The countdown begins from the moment the violation report is issued.

After the specified period of time, any administrative punishment of an individual or legal entity is illegal.

The imposed penalty in the form of a fine may be revised downwards or completely cancelled.

The maximum reduction that is possible in accordance with the presence of mitigating factors is a reduction of the fine by 50%.

What can the tax office fine you for?

The Tax Code of the Russian Federation indicates offenses for which a fine is provided. The most common types:

missed deadlines for submitting reporting documentation;
concealment of material information;
non-payment of taxes.

Late filing of reporting documentation primarily includes tax returns. Fine – 1 thousand rubles. The sanction is enshrined in Art. 199 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. If time is missed, the tax authority has the right to impose a fine. For example, if an organization does not register on time, it faces a fine of 10 thousand rubles (Article 116 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

We advise you to read:

✅ Statement of claim for collection of debt on utility bills
✅ Request to leave a statement of claim without consideration: sample
✅ Power of attorney to receive money: sample
✅ Certificate of work performed under the premises rental agreement: sample

Concealment of information refers to the withholding or failure to provide information that is important for determining the tax base and taxation in general. For example, this could be hiring a foreigner.

Non-payment of taxes is the most common reason for imposing a fine. If the debtor evades the direct obligation to make payments, then the tax authority is authorized to impose sanctions against him. The amount can be up to 40% of the unpaid amount. Formally, this possibility is enshrined in Art. 122 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

How to cancel an administrative penalty

Legal entities and commercial organizations can count on complete relief from administrative punishment in the form of a fine. Article 111 of the Tax Code contains a complete list of reasons for exemption from penalties:

The taxpayer has a serious illness.
Circumstances that the penalty officer cannot cope with (natural disasters, fires, etc.).
The taxpayer followed the instructions of other government bodies, as a result of which he violated the requirements of the tax code.
Other factors that are recognized as grounds for mitigation of punishment in court.

This is important to know: Sick leave: terms of payment by the employer in 2021

Penalties are a fairly common result of tax audits. All taxpayers should know how to protect themselves from excessive penalties. The Tax Code provides a list of circumstances that are considered as mitigating factors.

The Tax and Duties Service administers the timeliness and correctness of calculation of tax liabilities to the budget of the Russian Federation, submission of reports and required documentation. The Federal Tax Service has the right to punish an organization or private entrepreneur for violating fiscal legislation on many grounds, but we will focus on the most widespread:

violation of reporting deadlines;
violation of deadlines for transferring payments to the budget system of the Russian Federation;
erroneous determination of the tax base when calculating liabilities;
failure to provide required documentation;
concealment of information about current accounts, changes in management, etc.

The Tax Code provides for separate articles regulating the amount of penalties. But not many people know that the amount specified in the request for payment of a fine can be reduced several times. To do this, you will need to submit a petition to the tax office to reduce the amount of the fine.

How to make a petition?

A petition to reduce a fine to the tax office is a request addressed to the tax authority. This is a full-fledged document that requires compliance with the rules of execution. The law does not directly stipulate the mandatory clauses of the act. However, in practice, a composition technique has been developed.

Requirements:

written form;
availability of details;
motivation and narrative;
business style of presentation.

The document can be drawn up either in handwritten or printed form. Details – mandatory information about the applicant. Contains contact information, full name (if a citizen) or full name (if a legal entity). They are written at the top of the text on the right side. A title must be written after the details.

The main part contains the facts of the case. The applicant proves that events and certain conditions prevented the tax transaction from being completed on time or without violations. The reason must be valid. In addition, during the argumentation, it is recommended to make reference to the provisions of the law that give the right to reduce the fine. Next, a specific request is stated, for the sake of which the act is drawn up - a reduction in the size of the fine.

It makes sense to list applications in a separate section. These may be certificates and certificates that confirm the validity of the reason for the violation. The text itself ends with the date of application and the signature of the applicant. If the document is from a legal entity, then the seal of the organization is affixed.

Procedure for compilation

Let's figure out how to draw up a sample petition to the tax office to reduce the fine.

From the date of receipt of the payment request, the organization has 10 days to ask the Federal Tax Service to mitigate the punishment. It takes tax authorities no more than 10 days to consider the application if there is no need to verify the information. If there is such a need, the review will last up to 30 days (1 calendar month), in special cases - 2 months.

Expert opinion

Kostenko Tamara Pavlovna

Lawyer with 10 years of experience. Author of numerous articles, teacher of Law

The document should be drawn up according to general requirements, regardless of the taxpayer’s status. An incorrectly drawn up document will be considered void, even if the citizen or institution had legal grounds for reducing the fine.

There is no unified form, so we draw up a request to reduce the tax penalty in any form. Don't forget to provide the required information:

Full name of the head of the tax office.
Information about your organization: name, INN/KPP, address, telephone.
Name, number and date of the document establishing the tax penalty.
A detailed description of the results of the inspection performed.
Indication of mitigating factors.
Request for mitigation of punishment.
List of attached supporting documents.
Date and signature of the responsible person (manager or chief accountant).
Institutional seal, if available.

Procedure for filing an application

A written request is submitted to the territorial division of the Federal Tax Service. For citizens this is the tax authority at the place of residence, for legal entities - at the place of registration of the enterprise.

The filing deadline is 1 month from the date of imposition of the sanction. The one-month period is valid for the initial submission of an application to the regional Federal Tax Service. If you plan to appeal the actions, the time increases to 3 months.

The tax authorities themselves consider the request within 10 working days. In fact, the body often delays making a decision and drags out the process for a month. In such a situation, it is recommended to notify the Federal Tax Service again about the resolution of the issue.

What do the law and judicial practice say? Under what circumstances can the fine be reduced?

Mitigating circumstances will help . Art.

114 of the Tax Code established that if there is at least one mitigating circumstance, then the fine must be reduced by at least half. But what circumstances are considered mitigating in relation to companies - there is not a word about this in the Tax Code.

Article 112 of the Tax Code speaks of mitigating circumstances, but in relation to individuals, not companies.

Therefore, mitigating circumstances for companies have been developed through practice. Currently the following circumstances are considered:

the insignificance of late tax payment (it is clear that if there was an on-site tax audit that discovered an underpayment, then this item will not apply);
admission of guilt and elimination of errors (for example, if the company itself paid the tax before the inspection made a decision);
the company's charitable activities;
social orientation of the taxpayer’s activities (company - agricultural producer, city-forming enterprise, etc.);
difficult financial situation of the company (liquidation, bankruptcy proceedings, seasonal nature of work, etc.);
disproportionality of the act to the severity of the punishment.

What needs to be done in practice to reduce the fine? Submit the appropriate petition. This can be done both at the stage of considering objections to the on-site inspection report and in court.

Under what conditions can you submit an application to the tax office?

You can submit a petition to the tax office if individuals and organizations are unlawfully brought to justice, or if there are circumstances that mitigate or exclude guilt.

Wrongful prosecution

A taxpayer can be held accountable only on the grounds provided for by the code and if the fact of an offense has been established. In this case, it is impossible to attract someone twice for the same tax offense (Clause 2 of Article 108 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Prosecution does not relieve either an individual or an organization from paying taxes (fees or insurance premiums) due under the law. That is, all debts must be paid without waiting for the results of the investigation, which may result in additional punishment.
The presumption of innocence also applies in tax law: a taxpayer cannot be found guilty until his guilt is proven. In this case, the suspect does not have to prove his own innocence. Tax authorities are obliged to collect facts proving a tax crime.
If doubts about the guilt of the person brought to justice are not overcome, this person is considered innocent (Clause 6 of Article 108 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Thus, the basis for filing a petition or complaint against the actions of tax officials may be the unlawful prosecution of a person:

if the protocol on bringing to justice is violated (lack of corpus delicti and guilt of the person);
the person has already been charged with this offense;
The INFS made the decision to find the person guilty without sufficient facts and in the presence of doubts;
upon expiration of the statute of limitations;
if at the time of the offense the person was under 16 years of age;
the offense occurred during transactions with property owned by foreign companies that declared their assets and accounts (Clause 2 of Article 109 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Guilty plea

A person who has committed an offense is found guilty:

intentionally, that is, with awareness of the illegality of one’s actions or the consequences that have occurred;
through negligence, that is, without awareness of guilt and the severity of the consequences.

The organization is found guilty, depending on the form of guilt of the officials (representatives) who committed the criminal act or inaction (Article 110 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Circumstances excluding guilt in a tax offense

To circumstances excluding guilt, on the basis of Art. 111 NK, include:

Natural disasters and emergency circumstances (force majeure), if they are indisputable, confirmed in the media or other sources of facts. In this case, the person cannot be held accountable (clause 2 of Article 111).
Committing an offense in an uncontrolled state, when one does not give an account of actions and actions, for example, in case of mental disorders, delirium and other painful conditions.
Actions of the taxpayer within the limits of their competence based on a written explanation or motivated opinion of the tax authorities, subject to: the availability of documents confirming the facts of monitoring by the INFS;
the reliability of the information provided by this person to the INFS, on the basis of which written explanations were given by the tax authorities and a reasoned opinion was presented.

Other circumstances excluding the person’s guilt in this offense.

Types of sanctions

First, let's figure out what sanctions generally exist and where to look for them in the legislation. There are several types of punishments:

Blocking of accounts.
Peni.
Fines under Tax Code.
Fines under the Code of Administrative Offenses (on an official or organization).
Disqualification of a manager.
Forced liquidation (exclusion from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities).

The list conditionally reflects the transition from primary to final measures. When the Federal Tax Service detects a lack of reporting, it has the right to block the company’s accounts (clause 1, clause 3, Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) until the declarations are submitted. If this does not happen for a long time (more than a year), then the inspection has the right to decide to exclude the company from the register of legal entities (clause 1 of Article 21.1 of Law No. 129-FZ of 08.08.2001).

Disqualification threatens the director when he deliberately underestimated the taxable base by distorting accounting data, which led to non-payment of more than 10% of taxes (clause 2 of Article 12.11 of the Administrative Code). A suspended manager cannot hold a similar position for a long time - from 1 to 2 years. The company will have to hire a new one.

Penalties on taxes, contributions and fees are paid regardless of the presence or absence of a fine. The Tax Code establishes, in paragraph 4 of Article 75, the amount of penalties depending on the length of delay and the type of taxpayer:

IP – 1/300 of the refinancing rate for the entire period.
Organizations - if the delay is less than 30 days (calendar days inclusive), then 1/300 of the rate, from 31 days and more - 1/150 (starting from 31 days, up to - 1/300).

By the way! If you independently discovered non-payment of tax and are submitting an updated declaration in connection with this, then first pay the tax, penalties, and then submit the report. In this case, the taxpayer is exempt from the fine (clause 1, clause 4, Article 81 of the Tax Code).