Tax Collections Will Bypass Courts Despite Prominent Lawmakers' Protests

Next week the Duma Budget Committee will recommend adopting amendments to Article 48 of the Tax Code. These amendments will give tax collectors the right to collect unpaid taxes, penalties, and fines without a court sanction from individuals, by requisitioning funds directly from an individual's bank account.  Yuri Vasiliev, Committee Chairman, announced that the law could be accepted during this session.

If there are not sufficient funds in the account, cash can be demanded from the individual. If the individual does not have enough cash available, the his/her property can be confiscated with a court order.

The Court introduced these amendments so that time is not wasted on cases in which the taxpayer does not contest the claim. However, if a citizen would like to challenge the tax collection, he/she will have the right to bring it before the court.

But according to Pavel Krasheninnikov, Chairman of the Legislation Committee, these amendments violate civil rights which state that no one should be deprived of property without trial. The law will only introduce confusion in the tax sector and further erode the level of trust citizens have in the banks. A similar law already exists for legal entities, but with a limit of 5000 rubles, whereas for citizens there is no monetary limit.