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- Pre-calculated advantage: in the Russian Federation they want to freeze the statute of limitations on tax crimes
Pre-calculated advantage: in the Russian Federation they want to freeze the statute of limitations on tax crimes
The authorities are tightening the screws in the tax sphere and intend to freeze the statute of limitations for crimes in it. Such a draft resolution was prepared by the Ministry of Finance. Time tracking is planned to be stopped from the moment a delay in debt payment is granted. As a result, no one will be able to avoid taxes. Currently, the statute of limitations for such crimes is short, ranging from two to six years, depending on their severity. For this reason, almost one in five cases does not go to court. How the new system will work and whether there will be more criminal cases is in the Izvestia article.
Russia will tighten control over the payment of taxes
The Russian Federation plans to freeze the statute of limitations for tax crimes. The accounting of this time will stop after the government grants a deferral or installment payment of the debt. It will be renewed only from the moment of receipt of materials from the tax authority to the investigative authorities. This proposal was made by the Ministry of Finance, having prepared a draft resolution, which was analyzed by Izvestia.
Currently, the statute of limitations for tax crimes, depending on their severity, is two years or six years. It has been flowing continuously since the commission of the offense. The only exception is the fact that a person is wanted, explained Maria Bakakina, an adviser to the criminal law practice of the Sokolov, Trusov and Partners law Firm.
— Tax audits (which can sometimes take years) do not affect the statute of limitations. Possible tax evasion schemes need to be proven through expertise and analysis of financial flows, and the interdepartmental bureaucracy stretches the process for a long time. As a result, it is often impossible to initiate a criminal case simply because the statute of limitations has expired," the lawyer said.
A tax offense is the deliberate evasion of taxes, contributions, and fees. The courts take into account several criteria for qualifying a crime: the amount of damage to the budget, conspiracy, intent. For example, tax evasion in excess of 13.5 million rubles can result in up to three years in prison.
In 2023, 3.2 thousand materials on tax audits were received from the Federal Tax Service to the Investigative Committee, according to an explanatory note from the Ministry of Finance. At the same time, the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution has expired in every fifth case, meaning that crimes have gone unpunished. The damage amounted to 20.2 billion rubles.
The Ministry of Finance believes that this situation violates the balance of private and public interests and does not make it possible to fully compensate for significant budget losses. It can take up to five years (and in some cases even more) from the time of the crime to sending the materials to the investigating authority. Unscrupulous taxpayers can use the current rules not to repay debts to the state, but to delay the statute of limitations. Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Finance.
The case of blogger Elena Blinovskaya is significant: the criminal prosecution of tax evasion was discontinued years ago. However, the charges of money laundering and money laundering remained, for which she received a real sentence.
Elena Blinovskaya
Also, at the end of last year, investigators dropped the criminal case against the former CEO of the Voronezh brewery "Wright" because of the statute of limitations. It was about tax evasion for 26 million rubles. The case was initiated in 2022 over events that had already been going on for three years at that time.
As Izvestia previously reported, the total tax debt of Russians and businesses to the budget of the Russian Federation for the first nine months of 2025 reached a record 3.3 trillion rubles.
Will there be more criminal cases due to non-payment of taxes
The freezing of deadlines is likely to lead to an increase in the number of criminal cases, Maria Bakakina believes. The current economic situation cannot be ignored — now it is important to stop budget arrears. For businesses, this means increased control.
Here we are not talking about expanding the grounds for prosecution, but about changing the time frame in which the state can bring the procedures already initiated to their logical conclusion, Ekaterina Kosareva, Managing partner of the VMT Consult agency, emphasized. Therefore, in her opinion, the proposed measure is unlikely to lead to a sharp increase in the number of criminal cases of tax crimes. It will make it possible to close the loophole for tax evasion by businesses.
If, after a criminal case is initiated, a person or company pays off a debt to the budget in the process, the case is terminated, said Vladimir Saskov, an expert at the Institute of Tax Management and Real Estate Economics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. If the damage is not compensated, then after the entry into force of the innovation, the investigative authorities will have grounds for criminal prosecution without taking into account the statute of limitations of the crime.
Now it is easier for a taxpayer who has received a deferral to avoid paying debts, for example, by going bankrupt or minimizing his activities, said Ruslan Kuleshov, a member of the council of the Moscow branch of Delovaya Rossiya, CEO of the Clean Environment law firm. As a result, the budget loses billions of rubles, which is especially critical in conditions of its deficit.
Tax deferrals are often used not only as an anti-crisis tool, but also as an element of various optimization schemes, added Vladimir Klimanov, Director of the IPEI Regional Policy Center at the Presidential Academy. In some cases, entrepreneurs see them as a way to gain time or gain additional financial benefits, he said.
However, for businesses, innovation can mean not only covering up a loophole, but also increasing uncertainty, Ekaterina Kosareva pointed out. The longer the audit or investigation lasts, the more people are involved in the process: owners, management, accountants, contractors. This increases costs, distracts employees, and complicates long-term planning for companies.
In the absence of a clear procedural framework, the mechanism can be used to unreasonably delay decisions by the state, believes Vladimir Klimanov. In his opinion, when introducing the initiative, it is important to maintain a balance between the interests of the fiscal system and the protection of the rights of bona fide taxpayers. The authorities can come up with the best option after discussing the initiative with the business.
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