In Art. 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, conditions are established that affect the amount of punishment applied to the entity that committed the tax offense. When analyzing the norm, a certain analogy is traced with similar provisions of the criminal law. 
Art. 112 of the Tax Code: extenuating circumstances
For a tax offense provides liability. Punishment is assigned depending on the nature of the unlawful actions of the subject. In paragraph 1 of Art. 112 of the Tax Code determines the conditions under which less severe sanctions can be applied to the perpetrator. This is allowed if:
- The subject to responsibility was in a difficult financial situation.
- The violation was committed under the influence of difficult family or personal circumstances.
- The guilty subject was under the influence of threat, coercion, or in official, material or other dependence.
- There are other circumstances that the tax service or the court considering the case are recognized as mitigating.
Stricter punishment
In paragraph 2 of Art. 112 of the Tax Code provides a condition under which a more serious sanction is applied to the perpetrator. In particular, this occurs if a person has previously been held liable for the commission of such an offense. It should be said that in accordance with the Criminal Code for recidivism also the punishment is tougher. 
The nuances of the norm
The subject from which the sanction was imposed under tax law is considered punished for 12 months. from the effective date of the relevant decision. This provision is established in paragraph 3 of Art. 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The decision is made by the court or the Federal Tax Service. This means that if during this time the subject commits another similar offense, a more severe sanction will be applied to him in accordance with the second paragraph of Art. 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The tax inspectorate and the court considering the case of the perpetrator are required to comprehensively consider the materials. In Art. 112, paragraph 4 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that it is only their competence to establish the degree of responsibility of a person. These bodies are empowered to declare the facts aggravating or permitting a less severe punishment. They are mandatory taken into account when applying the sanctions established by the code. 
Art. 112 of the Tax Code with comments
The norm under consideration defines the conditions affecting the amount of tax sanction. They are aggravating circumstances and extenuating liability. The latter, in particular, include factors directly related to the identity of the perpetrator. For example, it can be a serious illness. The meaning of the norm refers not only to individuals as taxpayers (tax agents), but also to citizens who, acting as managers or other persons carrying out managerial activities, commit an offense due to a combination of difficult family or personal circumstances. These factors can be very different, including those related to the relatives of the subject. For example, it can be a serious illness of the wife, requiring significant costs, poor financial situation in the family, the death of someone close and so on.
Application of Art. 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation requires a mandatory assessment of these factors for each individual case.It should be said that their presence alone cannot exempt from the obligation to pay taxes. In fact, it is necessary to establish whether the circumstances were really so difficult. 
Threats
In Art. 112 of the Tax Code provides for a decrease in the degree of responsibility if the subject was under pressure. In particular, threats are meant. They can manifest themselves in a variety of forms. It can be verbal threats, or the performance of certain actions using dangerous means (threat with a knife, for example). In this case, the effect is on the psychological state of the subject. The threat may relate to damage to property, interests, intangible benefits of a citizen (honor, life, reputation, and so on). Moreover, it may concern not only the payer himself, but also his relatives, employees of the organization he manages.
Other pressure methods
In Art. 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the factors that reduce the amount of liability include coercion. It can be both physical and mental. In the first case, they mean beatings, violence, causing pain, torture, and other suffering. Mental methods can be called the impact on the consciousness of the subject, including through hypnosis.
As a mitigating circumstance, official or material dependence is considered. Under the first understand the pressure of the person whose payer (agent) is subordinate. An example is the relationship of interdependent entities. In some cases, a tax offense is committed under pressure from the person providing the perpetrator with production facilities, housing, raw materials, energy, convenience foods, financial assets, and so on. In such cases, unlawful actions are the result of fears that the perpetrator may lose the benefits he needs. 
Important points
It must be said that the list of extenuating conditions established in Art. 112 of the Tax Code, is considered open. Factors defined in the norm must be taken into account in any case. In this case, it is allowed to take into account other circumstances that may be regarded as mitigating at the discretion of the Federal Tax Service or the court in a particular situation. The amount of tax sanction can be significantly reduced. The fact is that only the minimum limit for its reduction is established. As a result of the assessment of circumstances, for example, the nature of the offense committed by the subject, the number of extenuating circumstances, the material condition and personality of the payer, the amount of punishment can be reduced by more than half.
Clarifications on the second paragraph of the norm
An analysis of the provisions of paragraph 2 of this article shows that the legislator has provided only one aggravating circumstance. It is expressed in the repeated commission of the offense, for which the subject has already been held accountable. In other cases, there is no reason to talk about aggravating factors. In particular, this applies to situations where a subject has committed a tax violation, but has not been prosecuted.
Moreover, the reason why the sanctions were not imputed to him does not matter. He will be considered unaccountable. Accordingly, toughening the punishment is unacceptable. Moreover, in accordance with paragraph 3 of the considered norm, the subject is considered to be held liable for 12 months. from the date of entry into force of the relevant decision made by the judicial or tax authorities. If no sanctions were applied to the guilty party before the violation was committed, the Federal Tax Service has no legal basis for increasing the size of the punishment. 
Imperative provisions
Clause 4 of this article provides that the factors mentioned in other clauses of the norm must be established either by the court or the tax service and taken into account when sanctions are applied to the perpetrator. Moreover, in accordance with the analysis of practice, these actions are the responsibility of these bodies.Thus, the right to reduce the penalty in case of mitigating circumstances is granted to both the tax service and the court. This means that the latter can reduce the size of the sanction, even if it has already been done by the Federal Tax Service. 
Legal provisions of the Constitutional Court
When applying the provisions of Article 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, it is necessary to take into account Resolution No. 14 of 05/12/1998. It states, in particular, that the penalties can be applied to the guilty subject, taking into account the nature of the offense committed by him, the amount of damage resulting from his unlawful actions, his property provisions, as well as other factors significant to the consideration of the case.
It should also take into account the provisions of Resolution No. 14 of 10.28.1999. It states that in the process of considering all disputes relating to tax offenses, the authorized authorities are obliged to investigate all actually existing circumstances, and not just the formal conditions established in the legal norm. The Decision of the Constitutional Court No. 1069-О-О of December 16, 2008 is also of no small importance. The court indicated in it that the legislator, when establishing responsibility for offenses, is obliged to follow the constitutional principles of legal equality, justice, proportionality and proportionality of punishment and its goals.
