Barrier roar: who may have their accounts blocked in May
Information about the alleged mass blocking of accounts of all individuals after May 20 due to late filing of the 3-personal income tax declaration is not true, the Federal Tax Service reported. The suspension of account transactions does not apply to all citizens who are required to report income, but applies only to a limited number of people. In which cases the Federal Tax Service can block an account and how to avoid it, as well as what mistakes taxpayers most often make when declaring income, see the Izvestia article.
Income Statement
Blocking bank accounts for an unreleased declaration does not apply to all, but only to certain categories: organizations, sole proprietors, notaries, lawyers, and other people who conduct private practice with business income. Moreover, such a measure is applied if these taxpayers have not filed a declaration within 20 days after the deadline. At the same time, the Federal Tax Service of Russia warns in advance about a possible blockage so that there is time to fix everything.
In some situations, tax legislation obliges citizens to independently report their income and pay tax, Olga Daineko, an expert on the Russian Ministry of Finance's NIFI project "My Finances.Russian Federation".
— This rule, in particular, applies to those who sold real estate or a car before the minimum period of ownership, received property as a gift not from close relatives, rented housing or other property as an individual (not as an individual entrepreneur or self—employed), as well as in a number of other cases, - said the expert.
If you do not submit the declaration on time without a valid reason, a fine may be imposed — 5% of the tax amount for each month of delay, but not more than 30% and not less than 1 thousand rubles, she recalled. At the same time, the absence of a declaration does not prevent the tax authorities from calculating the tax themselves: the Federal Tax Service of Russia uses available data and information from other departments.
"This option is usually less profitable because possible deductions and benefits are not taken into account," she noted. — If the tax is not paid, additional penalties are charged, and sometimes a fine of 20% of the amount owed, while the debt can be collected forcibly, including without going to court.
At the same time, the number of on—site tax audits of companies in 2025 increased compared to the same period in 2024: on average in Russia — by 13%, in Moscow - by 27%, and in St. Petersburg — by 45% at once. In total, 5,066 inspections of organizations were conducted across the country in 2025, and additional charges were identified in 4,952 cases. This means that the effectiveness of such checks remains very high — about 98%.
Electoral order
The blocking of accounts by the Federal Tax Service does not apply to all citizens, but only to those who are required to declare certain incomes, Vasily Koltashov, director of the Institute of the New Society, economist, and political scientist, confirmed to Izvestia. In addition to the cases already mentioned, this also applies to receiving significant money transfers from abroad.
Such receipts are subject to mandatory declaration. If this requirement is ignored, measures may be taken in the form of restricting access to accounts.
— Citizens who have performed such operations need to submit a special declaration. This will avoid claims from the tax authorities," the expert recalled.
Specialist consultation
Most often, taxpayers make mistakes related to undeclared income from the sale of property, the lack of supporting documents for deductions and incorrect filling out of the declaration itself, Peter Shcherbachenko, associate professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia.
— It is not uncommon to find inaccurate personal information, errors in amounts and calculations. If inaccuracies are found after the submission, they can be corrected — for this, an updated declaration is submitted through the Federal Tax Service of Russia, which helps to avoid possible problems in the future, the expert said.
At the same time, about 18% of Russians are not sure that they will be able to pay taxes on time. Many of them already understand that they can delay the payment and receive penalties. At the same time, 32% of the respondents paid in advance, because 67% of them missed deadlines last year, which meant they had to pay additional amounts, and sometimes even faced account blocking.
In general, the situation is quite clear, Maxim Chirkov, associate professor of the Department of Economic Policy and Economic Measurements at the State University of Management, told Izvestia. If a citizen is required to file a declaration, but does not do so on time, he may face account blocking. It is quite simple to avoid such measures — it is necessary to submit documents on time or at least within about 20 days after it. However, it is important to keep in mind that even in case of delay, penalties are possible.
— The system is built sequentially: if an account is blocked, it is usually unblocked after submitting a declaration. Such a mechanism looks logical and understandable to use," the expert believes.
The errors can be different. For example, a person may simply forget about the need to file, especially if the tax event occurred more than a year ago. In other cases, a citizen may not be aware of his duties, especially if for the first time he is faced with a situation requiring income declaration. However, neither ignorance of the law nor forgetfulness absolves from responsibility, Maxim Chirkov emphasized.
— If in doubt, it is better to seek clarification in advance from a lawyer or other specialist who is well versed in tax legislation, — he reminded. — You can also check the information directly with the tax authority to make sure that you need to file a declaration and avoid possible problems.
Izvestia sent a request to the Federal Tax Service, but no response had been received at the time of publication.
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