Sometimes commercial organizations are faced with the fact that financial monitoring has blocked a checking account. What to do in this situation? This question is asked by everyone who discovers a similar problem. The article will give recommendations on how to use the account in the future.
What does it mean
If the current account is blocked, then the activity of the entire enterprise is actually suspended. The owner can neither pay the debt, nor buy the goods, nor pay employees wages or fulfill other obligations related to finances. To avoid such a development of events, you need to understand how to find out if the account of the organization is blocked, why it was done, and how to remove restrictions.
First, account holders must distinguish between different types of restrictions that may be imposed by a banking organization. These include:
- Full blocking.
- Suspension of a specific operation.
- Refusal to implement a specific financial transaction.
The blocking deprives the owner of the opportunity to make any payments, withdraw funds, pay for goods and services, transfer funds to another account. This person is not allowed to create other accounts, as well as open deposits with banks.
Suspension or Full Lock
The bank’s financial monitoring may block the account if Rosfinmonitoring suspects the account holder in promoting terrorism by financing it or laundering income that is obtained in violation of the law. At the same time, the owner is entered in a special list of organizations and individuals, which is publicly available on the Internet.
Such a lock cannot last more than one month. This is stated in the law "On counteracting the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism" No. 115-FZ, in particular in para. 3 tbsp. 8. The validity period of the lock may be extended by a court decision. If such a fact takes place in the absence of an appropriate document, then this is a direct violation of the law.
If the organization is not listed, funds may be frozen or a certain financial transaction may be suspended until the circumstances are clarified. If financial monitoring has blocked the settlement account of LLC in this case, then such an action is illegal.
How to check if there is a lock
To check your account, just try to make any payment or call the hotline of a financial institution. But this information can only be provided to the account holder. This information was not disclosed to third parties.
However, the official virtual resource of the Federal Tax Service has the Bankinform service. It can be used by third parties. Having found this section, you need to select the type of check, specify the TIN of the legal entity and the BIC of the banking organization, as well as enter the spam protection code. As a result, the following information will be obtained:
- Account Lock Date
- Amount of debt.
- Reasons for blocking.
The main reasons for blocking
Banks should oversee transactions that are conducted by organizations in the event that their amount exceeds 600,000 rubles. or is the equivalent amount in foreign currency. This is stated in Art. 6 of the above law No. 115-ФЗ. Moreover, financial monitoring is carried out in relation to such operations as:
- Getting money into the account and cashing it out.
- Transfer to the accounts of foreign banks or receipt of money from them.
- Crediting or debiting a company that has been operating for less than 3 months.
- Opening of deposits and crediting funds on them.
According to Art. 7 of Law No. 115-ФЗ, banks must identify and analyze data on the movement of funds on customer accounts in order to highlight transactions that seem doubtful. So, financial institutions should record the following cases:
- Entangled transactions that do not make economic sense.
- Transactions that do not meet the objectives stipulated by the charter.
- Operations whose purpose may be to evade inspections.
- Refusals of account holders to perform operations in respect of which bank employees had suspicions of money laundering.
Knowing whether the bank can block the current account and on what grounds, the organization will be more responsible in its financial operations. If they meet at least one of the criteria mentioned above, the banking organization may request documents from the account holder that confirm the legality of its implementation. In the absence of such, blocking is inevitable.
Additional reasons
There are additional criteria that banks should pay attention to. For example, the CBR guidelines No. 18-MR indicate that banking organizations should pay attention to the following customers:
- Which overestimate the size of payments to 0.9% of turnover and above.
- Which do not pay salaries to employees or the money paid does not correspond to the available number.
- Which create a wage fund for workers, based on the amount of earnings less than the subsistence minimum established in the region.
- They pay personal income tax, but do not pay insurance premiums.
- They do not have funds in the account or their size does not meet the accrual objectives.
- Dramatically increased cash flow at times.
- They did not pay for stationery and other household goods, and did not pay current payments.
- Allocated VAT in the invoices for the purchase of goods that are not subject to this tax.
Bank requested documents
What to do if financial monitoring has blocked the current account:
- Reasons to find out first.
- Next, you must provide the bank with the required documents. The law does not establish information that must be verified. Therefore, banks may request the information that they consider necessary. Most often, they include: payment documents, contracts, payment of taxes, legal sources of funds, other supporting information.
If after the account holder has provided the necessary documents and he was refused a withdrawal, such actions can be appealed as follows:
- In the Central Bank.
- In a court.
Challenging a Blocking Decision
According to paragraph 3 of Art. 845 of the Civil Code, the bank does not have the right to establish restrictions on the use of the account, unless otherwise provided by law. Also, he is not entitled to use funds for his own purposes. It is the provisions of this article that should guide the preparation of a claim or complaint.
In addition, according to Art. 849 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the bank is obliged to implement a client’s order to issue money within the next day after its receipt. If the client proves that his actions are lawful, a bank refusal is considered illegal.
Based on paragraph. 1 Article. 395 of the Civil Code, a court can not only oblige a banking institution to transfer funds that belong to the account holder, but also charge a percentage for their use.
Withdraw funds
The best option for withdrawing money if there is a lock is going to court. This can be done by employees of the organization, who must receive wages, suppliers and other persons. If the case is considered in a simplified manner, a court order will be received within 5 days.In other cases, you will have to wait a lot longer.
If the lock is initiated by the tax service
A banking organization can not only independently block a current account based on financial monitoring, but also perform the same actions at the request of the tax authority. The reasons for freezing a bank account at the request of the Federal Tax Service are provided for in paragraph 3 of Art. 76 of the Tax Code. These include the following:
- Failure to submit a tax return within the statutory deadlines.
- The presence of debt in the form of taxes, fines or penalties.
- Failure to provide tax on individuals withheld from employees.
- Failure to comply with the conditions that are presented by the tax service.
The IFTS is obliged to notify the owner of the decision to block the account. If the notice is not delivered, then the state of the account can be checked by contacting the tax service or using the aforementioned BANKINFORM service.
Unlock
If, on the initiative of the tax service, financial monitoring has blocked a current account, what should I do? The bank in this case will not be able to help. Therefore, you must contact the tax office. If there is an error, documents should be submitted that confirm the relevant fact. The evidence may be:
- Receipts and payments.
- Marks on acceptance of documents, mail notifications.
- Acts of reconciliation.
If it became known that financial monitoring has legitimately blocked a current account, what should I do? The only way out of the situation is to eliminate the identified violation. Having completed the necessary actions, the inspector should provide supporting documents.
Unlocking is carried out in such terms:
- Within one business day after payment of fines and arrears (if the relevant bank statement is provided). This is stated in paragraph 8 of Art. 76 of the Tax Code.
- Within one business day after the submission of documents on sending the declaration or reporting. This is stated in paragraphs. 1 p. 3.1 Art. 76 of the Tax Code.
- Within one business day after the submission of the necessary documents to the tax service. This is also said in paragraphs. 1 p. 3.1 Art. 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
At the same time, in practice, unlocking can be carried out in a few days if the debt has been paid, and in some cases take up to 1 month. At the same time, the bank considers documents in accordance with internal rules.
Full or partial unlock
Sometimes the tax and federal financial monitoring services convey the requirement of a banking organization to completely block the funds available in the account. This can be done even if the account balance is much larger than the amount specified in the decision on the temporary suspension of the right to use the account. Then you need to file an application with the tax office to remove the restrictions imposed in part. If the question is how to pay taxes, if the current account is blocked, then it is solved in the same way. An extract from the bank is attached to the document, where the funds that are stored in the account are indicated.
In accordance with paragraph 4 of Art. 76 of the Tax Code, the service must send a decision to the bank to remove the restriction from the account within one business day from the date of the relevant decision. The procedure is accelerated by sending notifications in electronic format. As a result, the company’s working activities are returning to normal.
If the deadlines for lifting restrictions are violated, the account holder is entitled to receive compensation. In this case, a penalty is established based on the current refinancing rate.
Court Lockout
It may be that, on the basis of a court decision, financial monitoring has blocked a settlement account. What to do in this case? First of all, learn about the reasons for this action.After a court decision is received, the bank must completely cease its expenditure operations, whether it is cash withdrawals or money transfers.
Typically, the reason lies in the presence of debt to contractors, government agencies or other financial organizations, which the account holder does not pay voluntarily. This is a security measure. Thanks to blocking, it becomes possible to satisfy the requirements of creditors. The restriction is removed after the execution of the judgment. If this is not done by ourselves, then the money will be written off compulsorily in the enforcement proceedings.
Conclusion
Thus, when deciding how to unlock a blocked current account, you first need to find out who initiated this action. This can be both the banking organization itself and the tax service. In the latter case, the inspector sends a request to the bank that operations on a specific account be terminated. In addition, a judicial authority may be the initiator.
To return to normal activities, the account holder must comply with the prescribed requirements. These may include a requirement to pay a debt, submitting supporting documents, submitting taxes, reporting, and so on. However, if the account holder considers that the submitted claims are illegal, he can go to court to prove this fact and remove restrictions on the account.
Previously, courts often sided with the bank. But now the situation has changed. If the operation is legal and there are documents confirming this fact, the court will decide in favor of the account holder. If the situation is doubtful, then a failure is likely. In any case, it is the banking organization and the Federal Financial Monitoring Service that should prove the existence of a reason for blocking.