The statute of limitations for administrative liability helps avoid punishment. The law defines the time limits for initiating an administrative case during procedural proceedings. After the end of the period of time provided for by law, it cannot be opened.
ATTENTION: if your case is considered beyond the deadline, a complaint in an administrative case drawn up by our auto lawyer will help you protect your rights and legitimate interests.
What is the statute of limitations for bringing administrative liability?
The law establishes deadlines for initiating a case of an administrative offense - the corresponding time periods during which officials must take actions. If they are not completed within the time provided by law, there are no grounds to hold the citizen accountable.
The statute of limitations for administrative cases varies in length, depending on the nature of the offense. It ranges from several months to a year for different cases. Under the conditions of procedural work determined by law, procedures are provided that may lead to a change in the specified period of time.
The actual increase in the statute of limitations for administrative cases occurs if, for various reasons, a decision is made to suspend their consideration.
One of them is the transfer of the consideration of the offense to the judicial authority located in the place of residence of the accused, which occurs upon his appropriate request. In this case, the countdown of time is suspended until the documents are received by the relevant court. The continuation of time recording begins from the date of registration in it.
USEFUL: most often the question concerns the timing, when the period of deprivation of a driver's license is of interest (more details at the link).
Types of offenses for which special terms are established
You cannot be held administratively liable after 1 year from the date of violation of the following types of legislation:
- patent;
- antimonopoly;
- on the protection of consumer rights;
- on environmental protection;
- on road safety;
- about taxes;
- on participation in shared construction;
- labor;
- insurance:
- about fire safety, etc.
The statute of limitations is within 2 years for such offenses as:
- non-compliance with customs and currency legislation;
- violation of regulations in the field of budget legal relations;
- failure to comply with accounting requirements;
- non-payment of funds for the maintenance of minor children or disabled parents;
- beating.
If you violate bankruptcy laws and laws on political parties, you cannot be held accountable after 3 years. The maximum statute of limitations is set for violators of anti-corruption legislation and those guilty of financial support of terrorism; it is 6 years.
For offenses for which the perpetrator is disqualified, the period for imposing an administrative penalty is 1 year.
With regard to traffic violations, the statute of limitations for minor offenses that did not lead to an accident is 2 months. These include not fastening a seat belt, failure to give priority to a pedestrian, improper use of lights and sound signals, etc.
If the violation caused an accident in which harm to health or life was caused, then administrative liability may be brought within a year.
The same period applies in case of refusal of a medical examination for intoxication.
Petition to terminate the administrative case due to expiration of the deadline
The expiration of the period for bringing to administrative responsibility is an unconditional mandatory basis for terminating the administrative case.
The person in respect of whom the case is being considered or the investigator or other official considering the case may declare the existence of such grounds for termination of the case.
The law provides that the official reviewing the case terminates the case before it is referred to the court if the time limit for prosecution has expired. If the investigator, or another person in whose proceedings the administrative case is located, does not notice such a basis or makes a mistake in calculating the period of involvement, it is necessary to submit a written petition to terminate the case. After consideration of such a petition by the person considering the administrative case or on his initiative, a decision is made.
If the case is being considered by the court, then all persons can file such a petition. After considering the petition, the court issues an appropriate ruling to terminate the administrative case.
There are no special requirements for the application, and no special forms are provided for it.
The petition must contain:
- Name of the court, body, official
- Name (name) of the person on whose behalf it is submitted
- Details of the violation case
- Request to the court or official of the body considering the case
- Justification for the request - expiration of the period for involvement, which is the basis for termination of the case
- Personal signature of a citizen, signature of a representative of a citizen or legal entity.
You can submit a petition in person to an official, to the office of the body considering the case, to the office of the court, or by mail. To be on the safe side, you must have a receipt stamp. Therefore, when submitting a petition, it is better to have a copy of it, and it is better to send it with the option of notification of receipt by the addressee.
IMPORTANT : it is recommended to submit the document in person, since the existing deadlines for consideration of the petition begin to be calculated from the moment it is received by the judge or official.
Rules for calculating deadlines
To determine the beginning of the statute of limitations, it is necessary to find out what kind of offense it is: already committed or ongoing . If the violation has already occurred, then the period begins to be calculated from the day it was committed. In the legislation, a continuing offense is understood as a failure by a person to fulfill the duties assigned to him for a long time. For such offenses, the statute of limitations starts from the moment it was discovered.
A similar violation can also be called failure to fulfill obligations by a certain date. In this situation, the limitation period should be counted from the date of final fulfillment of the obligation.
For some types of offenses for which the perpetrators are brought to administrative responsibility, Art. 4.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses establishes special rules for counting the limitation period:
- In the case of the use of doping drugs in sports, the statute of limitations for imposing an administrative penalty under Art. 6.18 of the Code of Administrative Offenses begins from the moment this fact is established.
- When using illegal methods of competition, a privileged position in the product market, or non-compliance with antimonopoly rules, the limitation period is counted from the day the antimonopoly authority made a decision establishing a violation.
- For failure to fulfill a contract under a state defense order or an unreasonable increase in the price of products manufactured under such contracts, the period begins after a decision is made to establish the fact of violation by the commission for supervision in the field of state defense procurement.
The Code defines the condition for suspending the limitation period. This is possible when the person guilty of the violation files a petition to have the case examined at his place of residence. The deadline is suspended from the moment the petition is granted until the materials are received by the relevant authority at the place of residence of the perpetrator.
Counting the statute of limitations when reviewing a case of an administrative offense
A complaint against the decision to impose administrative liability can be filed by both the person guilty of the violation and the injured party if he considers the imposed penalty too lenient. Based on the received complaint, the case is subject to review, and the statute of limitations is calculated differently by arbitration and general jurisdiction courts.
A court of general jurisdiction will terminate the proceedings if the statute of limitations for prosecution has expired, on the basis of Art. 30.7 Code of Administrative Offences.
According to this norm, it is impossible to change the decision on an administrative penalty during a review of the case if the punishment is increased or the position of the guilty person simply worsens.
When reviewing a case in an arbitration court, compliance with the statute of limitations at the time of bringing to administrative responsibility is taken into account. If the ruling was made in compliance with the rules, the court will consider the complaint, even if at that moment the statute of limitations has already expired.
The decision to impose administrative liability can be canceled and a new judicial act adopted. This difference in approaches to deadlines is due to the fact that in the arbitration process the case of an administrative penalty is not reviewed, but is under new consideration. In this case, the penalty may be increased.
Provide a sample petition for consideration of a case at the place of residence
Statute of limitations for holding directors and accountants liable
In the table below we have provided the statute of limitations for holding directors and accountants liable. You will be able to determine whether you have a risk of being held accountable for mistakes of past years.
Do not forget that the manager and accountant of the company can be held accountable even after dismissal from the company; a civil contract does not help either.
Please also note that tax authorities and investigative authorities are trying to “extend” these deadlines under various pretexts. For example, tax authorities believe that the date of payment of income tax for 2013 is March 28, 2014, and the statute of limitations begins to run not from 2014, but from 2015. Sometimes the courts side with the tax authorities, but not in all cases.
Limitation periods for holding directors and accountants liable.
| Limitation period for attraction | Administrative offense | Tax offense | Criminal offense |
| 1 year | For violation of the laws on export control, on the media, on copyright, advertising, on combating the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime, on taxes and fees, on the protection of consumer rights, on joint stock companies, on limited liability companies, also for violation of labor laws, etc. | ||
| 2 years | For violation of customs legislation, currency legislation, accounting legislation | Evasion of taxes and fees on a large scale (clause 1 of Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Failure to fulfill the duties of a tax agent committed on a large scale (clause 1 of Article 199.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). | |
| 3 years | For violation of insolvency (bankruptcy) legislation. | For violation of tax laws. | |
| 6 years | Concealment of funds or property of an organization or individual entrepreneur, at the expense of which taxes, fees, and insurance premiums should be collected in large and especially large amounts (Article 199.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). | ||
| 10 years | Evasion of taxes and fees, committed on an especially large scale, by a group of persons by prior conspiracy (clause 2 of Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Failure to fulfill the duties of a tax agent on an especially large scale (clause 2 of Article 199.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). |
Large size - more than RUB 5,000,000
. within 3 years, if the share of unpaid taxes, fees, insurance premiums is more than 25 percent of those payable, or exceeds 15,000,000 rubles.
Particularly large size – more than 15,000,000 rubles
within 3 years in a row, if the share of unpaid taxes is more than 50 percent of those payable, or the amount exceeds 45,000,000 rubles.
All issues of responsibility of company managers are covered in the guide “Responsibility of the director and accountant”
. In the berator, information is updated, all types and types of responsibilities are described. If you want complete information on this topic, berator is your best source of information.
Berator
Work with the berator right now for free!
Video on our YouTube channel
Anyone can face a situation where you have to defend yourself against accusations from the tax office and the prosecutor's office. The director's responsibility for the company's activities has been taken to the point of absurdity. And now the accountant can be held accountable.
electronic edition of 100 ACCOUNTING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS BY EXPERTS
A useful publication with questions from your colleagues and detailed answers from our experts. Don't make other people's mistakes in your work! 7 issues of the publication are available to berator subscribers for free.
Get the edition
