Closing a legal entity is a procedure consisting of many long steps. One of the steps is to close the current account during the liquidation of the LLC. Perhaps this is the easiest stage, but depending on the method of closing the enterprise, the procedure may vary slightly. If the company has several settlement accounts, then they can be closed gradually, throughout the entire liquidation period.
general information
You should be aware that at the level of legislative acts there are no deadlines for the period during which the company is obliged to close the contract for banking services.
However, it is worth knowing that if there has been no movement on the company's account for 2 years, the banking institution has the right to close it by terminating the contract on its own initiative. This right is even assigned to the bank in the civil code. The financial institution is obliged to notify the other party to the agreement about its decision 2 months before the planned date of termination.
Voluntary liquidation of an enterprise
Once a decision has been made to close and a liquidation commission has been appointed, you can already proceed to the process of closing a current account during the liquidation of an LLC. Members of the commission may adhere to the following algorithm of actions:
1. Obtaining a bank statement with information on the remaining funds, the presence of debts and estimated payments.
2. Compilation and transmission of a notice of desire to terminate the contract for banking services. A number of documents must be attached to the notification:
- a copy of the extract from the register;
- a copy of the decision, which confirms the beginning of the opening of the liquidation procedure and the list of approved members of the closure commission;
- a power of attorney or other document that will confirm the credentials of the applicant;
- applicant's passport.
3. Withdrawal of all balances from the current account minus the commission of a financial institution for its servicing.
When account closure may be refused
Naturally, an enterprise serviced in any banking institution on a contractual basis is entitled to terminate the agreement at any time. Nevertheless, closing a current account during the liquidation of an LLC is impossible in two cases:
- if the FTS has issued a decision to suspend any operations on a specific current account;
- if there is outstanding settlement documentation.
Which authorities are entitled to block an account?
Recently, the tax service quite often practices blocking the accounts of enterprises. And it doesn’t matter, the current account is closed during the liquidation of the LLC or for some other reason. The main thing is that this right is enshrined in the Tax Code. Most often, such a decision is made by the tax service in cases where there is arrears in the payment of taxes and other fees. The court can also make a decision on blocking the current account.
The second reason is the FTS’s suspicion that the LLC is engaged in money laundering, or large amounts of foreign currency are regularly sent to the company's account. Moreover, the likelihood of blocking increases if this money comes from individuals.
The tax service may impose a ban on operations, including the closing procedure, and in other cases:
- if the LLC does not submit reports or does it irregularly;
- the company cannot be found at both the legal and the actual address;
- the measure can be interim and is most often applied during the audit period.
Based on a court decision, the bank is entitled to block the account if there are uncollected debts.As a rule, the authority obliging to block the settlement account of an enterprise must notify the decision, not only the bank, but also the legal entity itself. Closing a current account during the liquidation of an LLC is also impossible due to the blocking of the account by the banking institution itself. Such a situation is quite rare, but nevertheless the bank, having suspected the illegality of the receipt of funds, can stop the movement of the account until the company provides supporting documents on the legality of the transaction with the counterparty.
What to do if the account is blocked
The first thing a legal entity should do is find out the reason for such measures. It is clear that the organization should be notified, but knowing how the mail works, it is better to immediately contact the bank and find out the reason there. If the reason was the failure to report or underpay to the budget, then you have to pay. In case of suspicion in relation to the enterprise that the money came to the account as a result of fraudulent transactions, the bank will need to provide documents that confirm the "transparency" of the transaction.
Forced liquidation of an enterprise
Closing an LLC is possible by force. An application with the initiation of a forced closure procedure can be submitted by several categories of persons:
- the enterprise itself;
- tax service;
- bankruptcy creditor;
- creditors, including enterprise personnel.
After the court makes a decision and bankruptcy proceedings are opened, a manager is appointed, who bears all responsibility for the activities of the enterprise. It also determines the procedure for closing a current account during the liquidation of an LLC. If there are several accounts, then, as a rule, all are closed, except for one, before all settlements are carried out.
According to instruction 153-I, the bankruptcy trustee provides the following documents to the financial institution to close the account:
- proof of identity;
- a copy of the court decision, which indicates that he was appointed manager;
- written request for closure;
- details of the financial institution to which the remaining funds must be transferred.
After information about the liquidation has been entered into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and if all debts have been settled, the management of the current account again passes to the owners of the LLC, which determine the procedure and deadlines for closing the current account during the liquidation of the LLC in the bank. When the funds in the current account are insufficient to satisfy all claims, it is blocked, and the bankruptcy procedure is terminated.
Dates and cost
If we talk about the forced closure of the enterprise, then the banking institution independently determines the closing time, but usually this is done at least a couple of days. Payment, as a rule, in case of bankruptcy is not charged. The term for closing a current account upon liquidation of an LLC, if voluntary, is 1-2 days. Naturally, it all depends on the procedure adopted by the bank itself, since such terms are not regulated at the level of legislation. Perhaps a fee will be charged.
It is necessary to withdraw available funds on the account within 7 days from the date of application. If this is not done, the banking institution has the right to credit them to itself as income. To date, neither the bank nor the legal entity itself is required to notify the tax authorities of the closure of the current account.
What more needs to be done?
After completing the procedure for closing a current account upon liquidation of an enterprise (LLC), it is recommended to notify counterparties about this. Although the legislation does not provide for such a procedure, it is better to send notifications in order to avoid possible difficulties, if any movement of funds is expected. Extra-budgetary funds and the Federal Tax Service do not need to be notified about anything; this requirement has been abolished by a number of amendments to legislative acts.
What happens if you do not terminate the contract?
We now have a definite concept of this procedure. The closure of the current account during the liquidation of the LLC and the terms of this procedure are not regulated by any normative act, but it is still recommended to go through this procedure before making changes to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, that is, at the stage of approval of the liquidation balance sheet. After the official liquidation and amendments to the register, it is not possible to carry out any operations with a current account, including withdrawing money. Although the bank will still charge a fee for servicing the account.
The main thing is always to remember that the LLC has the right to conduct business until the moment the liquidation balance sheet has been approved, therefore this moment is considered the most optimal for account closure.