In case of violation of contractual obligations, the Russian legislation provides for a special type of penalties. Such a thing as fines serves as a regulator of compliance with the deadlines for the transfer of tax payments, utilities and many other obligations.
What is a penalty, what is its regulatory role
Penalty penalty is a fairly common occurrence in everyday life. The obligation to charge such a penalty arises at the time of violation of the legal relations enshrined in the contract or regulation. If the violation is not resolved, the penalty will constantly grow. The amount of the penalty directly depends on the amount of the obligation and is calculated as a percentage.
Understanding the question of what is a penalty, people often come across such a term as “forfeit”. This is practically the same. For example, if in the contractual obligations it is written that the daily penalty will amount to 0.3% of the payment amount, then such a term implies the calculation of a penalty interest.
In legal practice, two types of forfeit are used: a contractual penalty and a legal forfeit. In the first case, the amount of recovery is established by the contractual relationship. The approximate amount of such sanctions is 0.5% per day. The second type of penalty is established by law and regulated by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. This method is used for non-payment of alimony, delayed utility bills and in other cases. If there is no regulation for calculating such interest, the percentage of the penalty is equal to the refinancing rate applicable at the time of the violation.
In which case tax penalties are charged
All tax payments have strict deadlines that must be strictly observed. If the transfer deadline is missed, then the regulatory authorities accrue interest. Until the main tax is paid, interest will continue to increase. In order to stop them, it is necessary to make a budget payment as quickly as possible.
Tax authorities accrue interest on taxes using specialized programs. Previously, this time-consuming work was carried out by accountants, and, despite the existing exact formulas, the results obtained were still dubious.
There are also a number of cases where tax penalties are not charged. For example, if a taxpayer’s account is blocked by a decision of the tax authorities or funds were seized on the basis of a judicial act.
How penalties and fines are related
Penalties and fines are separate penalties and are not dependent on each other. There is a fundamental difference between these sanctions. A fine is issued to the company in case of violation, and the penalty is calculated from the first day of delay in payment. Penalties have fixed amounts, the penalty is calculated according to a certain formula, taking into account the current refinancing rate.
Penalties for late payments of utility bills
Delay in the payment of utility bills remains an acute problem for management companies. To ensure that the amount of debt does not become critical, suppliers of energy and household services have the right to charge a penalty for utilities.
The size of the sanctions imposed depends on the number of days of delay. According to the new rules, from January 1, 2016, fines begin to accrue from 31 days. Within three months (90 days), interest will be charged at the rate of 1/300 of the refinancing rate, and from 91 days the interest will be increased to 1/130 of the rate.
Sometimes the owner of the apartment will have to leave for a certain period of time, in which case interest can be avoided if you write in advance to the management company a statement. Such a delay may be granted to an individual for six months.
They delayed the payment of compulsory motor third-party liability insurance - interest is charged
The MTPL insurance contract involves the establishment of certain liability of the parties, for the failure of which penalties are provided. In the event of an insured event, consideration of the application of the victim should last no more than 20 days. After this period, the insurance company must pay the applicant an insurance premium or formulate a reasonable refusal.
If the funds are not paid on time, the company will have to charge a penalty. The insurance penalty is 1% of the amount owed on a daily basis. If the insurance company partially paid the client, the penalty is charged on the remaining amount. In the event of a deliberate delay in considering the application, a penalty of 0.05% is provided daily. It is worth noting that the total amount of recovery cannot be higher than the maximum insurance payment.
Why do I need a refinancing rate
The interest at which the Central Bank provides loans to commercial banks is called the refinancing rate. This economic term is of rather great strategic importance and is actively involved in the calculation of penalties.
The penalty is calculated on the basis of the principle 1 \ 300 rate for each delayed day. In other words, the amount of debt is multiplied by 1 \ 300 and the number of days missed. Also, the interest rate is involved in labor law and regulates the timely payment of wages to employees.
The refinancing rate can change its indicators several times during the year, therefore it is very important to constantly monitor such changes in order to correctly calculate payment penalties.
How to calculate penalties
As it turned out, what is a penalty, it’s not difficult to understand, it’s a little more difficult to understand how this value is calculated.
The amount of interest is always determined as a percentage of the principal amount of the debt. Federal law establishes that penalties are charged in the amount of 1/300 of the refinancing rate established by the Central Bank of Russia.
In order to calculate the penalties correctly, you need to multiply the amount of debt by the number of days of delay and the refinancing rate in the share of 1/300 percent.
The bank refinancing rate may change several times a year, so the question arises of what size to use in the formula. According to the law, penalties will have to be calculated in separate periods, taking into account the percentage changes that have occurred. Moreover, it does not matter whether the rate increased or decreased.
Transfer of penalties
Accrued interest may be transferred simultaneously with the payment of the main debt or in the event of a shortage of funds independently after repayment of the debt. Penalties for payments cannot be written off by the bank without acceptance, nor can they be paid by the property of the company. When paying interest, it is very important to follow the procedure for repayment of the main debt. If the arrears are not paid, then the transfer of interest will be meaningless, as their growth continues. First of all, the main payment is always extinguished.
The Russian Tax Code sets a limitation period applicable to arrears. The person who committed the offense cannot be held liable after three years, which are calculated from the date of the violation or the first day after the end of the tax period. Therefore, many citizens and legal entities, having learned what the penalty is and what is the deadline for fulfilling the obligation to pay it off, are in no hurry to repay the debt. This is a gross violation of the law and may entail more significant consequences.