If taxes / ERUs are paid “not there”

Regarding taxes and ERUs, fiscal insists have long and stubbornly insisted: “paying to the wrong account = non-payment”. Accordingly, in a situation where the payer transfers taxes / ERUs “not there”, penalties are applied for non-payment, or late payment of obligations and accrue a penalty. All is not lost - if the payer appeals the decision of the tax authorities in court. Indeed, in this area there is a positive judicial practice, and with respect to various taxes.

Penalties for violation of the terms of payment of the agreed amount of a monetary obligation, provided for by clause 126.1 of the TCU, apply only in the case of actual non-payment, or late payment of a monetary obligation. Therefore, in order to confirm the fact of non-payment of the agreed amount of a monetary obligation, it is necessary to establish that within the time period specified by the legislation the payer did not take actions aimed at transferring the agreed obligation to the budget.

As explained by the courts, the commission of an error in transferring an agreed obligation to the budget within the period established by law should still qualify as an action, albeit an erroneous one. And actions that do not contain signs of a payer's inaction when paying the agreed amount of a monetary obligation cannot be a ground for applying negative consequences stipulated by the legislation (penalties and fines).

The mistake made by the payer does not indicate the failure to pay the required amount of tax / ERUs within the time specified by law and does not cause any negative consequences for the relevant budget and the state as a whole. In other words, the erroneous indication of another current account is not a legal basis for concluding that the required amount of tax / ERU was not paid by the deadline established by law.

Especially, if the payer subsequently discovered this error on his own and took appropriate measures to transfer funds to the appropriate account.