Section 3. Tax Bodies. Customs Agencies.

Agencies of the Governmental Extra-budgetary Funds.

Tax Police Bodies. The Responsibility of the Tax Bodies,

the Customs Agencies, the Agencies of the Governmental

Extra-budgetary Funds, the Tax Police Bodies and Their Officials

Chapter 5. Tax Bodies, Customs Agencies.

Agencies of the Governmental Extra-budgetary Funds.

The Responsibility of the Tax Bodies, the Customs Agencies

and the Agencies of the Governmental Extra-budgetary Funds

and Their Officials

Article 30. Tax Authorities in the Russian Federation

1. The tax authorities in the Russian Federation shall be the Ministry of Taxation of the Russian Federation and its territorial divisions in the Russian Federation.

2. In cases provided by this Code, the customs authorities and the agencies of the governmental extra-budgetary funds shall have the competence of the tax authorities.

3. The tax authorities, the agencies of the governmental extra-budgetary funds and customs authorities shall act within their competence and in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

4. The tax authorities, the agencies of the governmental extra-budgetary funds and customs authorities shall discharge their functions and cooperate with each other by exercising their authority and fulfilling obligations established by this Code and other federal laws determining the procedure for organisation and activity of the tax authorities.

Article 31. The Rights of the Tax Bodies

1. The tax bodies shall have the right:

1) to demand from a taxpayer or a tax agent documents in the forms established by state bodies and local self-government bodies to serve as grounds for the calculation and payment (deductions and transfers) of taxes, and also explanations and documents confirming the correctness of calculation and timeliness of payment (deduction and transfer) of taxes;

2) to carry on tax inspections in the order prescribed by this Code;

3) to make a seizure of documents, during tax inspections of a taxpayer or a tax agent, testifying to the commission of tax offences in cases when there are sufficient grounds to believe that these documents will be destroyed, concealed, changed or replaced;

4) to summon to tax bodies taxpayers, payers of dues or tax agents to give pertinent explanations by means of written notices in connection with the payment (deduction or transfer) of taxes by them or in connection with a tax inspection, and also in other cases associated with the execution by them of the legislation on taxes and dues;

5) to suspend transactions in the accounts of taxpayers, payers of dues and tax agents in banks and to distrain the property of taxpayers, payers of dues and tax agents in the order prescribed by this Code;

6) to examine (inspect) workrooms, depots, trading and other premises and areas used by taxpayers to derive income or connected with the maintenance of the objects of taxation, regardless of their place of location, to draw up an inventory of the property belonging to taxpayers. The procedure for drawing up an inventory of the taxpayer's property during a tax inspection shall be endorsed by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Taxation of the Russian Federation;

7) to determine the sums of taxes to be paid by taxpayers to the budget or to the extra-budgetary funds and calculated on the basis of available information about a taxpayer, and also of the data on other similar taxpayers in case of the refusal of the taxpayer to admit tax officials to examination (inspection) of workrooms, depots, trading and other premises and areas, used by the taxpayer to derive income or connected with the maintenance of taxation, in case of the refusal to submit to a tax body documents necessary for the calculation of taxes during more than two months, in case of the absence of the record-keeping of incomes and expenses, of the objects of taxation, and in case of keeping a record with the contravention of the established order that has led to the impossibility of computing taxes;

8) to demand that taxpayers, tax agents and their representatives should remove the revealed breaches of the legislation on taxes and dues and to control the fulfilment of said requirements;

9) to recover tax and due arrears, and also penalties in the order established by this Code;

10) to control the compliance of big expenses of natural persons with their incomes;

11) to demand from banks documents confirming the execution of payment orders of taxpayers, payers of dues and tax agents and the fulfilment of collection letters (orders) of tax bodies on the write-off of the amounts of taxes and penalties from the accounts of tax payers, payers of dues and tax agents;

12) to attract specialists, experts and interpreters for tax control;

13) to summon as witnesses persons who may know any circumstances of relevance to tax control;

14) to apply for the cancellation or suspension the validity of licenses issued for the engagement in certain activities to juridical and natural persons;

15) to set up tax posts in the order prescribed by this Code;

16) to bring the following actions in courts of general jurisdiction or in courts of arbitration:

actions of recovery of tax sanctions from persons who breached the legislation on taxes and dues;

actions of the recognition as invalid of the state registration of a legal entity or of the state registration of a natural person in the capacity of an individual entrepreneur;

actions for the liquidation of an organisation of any organisational structure or legal status on the grounds established by the legislation of the Russian Federation;

actions for the early dissolution of a contract of tax credit and a contract of investment tax credit;

actions of the recovery of the indebtedness of taxes duties which correspond to penalties and fines by the budgets or the extra-budgetary funds, if this indebtedness is attributed for more than three months to the organisations, which under the civil legislation of the Russian Federation dependent (affiliate) companies (enterprises, from the corresponding basic (prevalent, participating) companies (partnerships, enterprises), when their bank accounts receive the proceeds from the sold goods (works, services) of (subsidiary) companies or enterprises, and also to the organisations which are under the civil legislation of the Russian Federation basic (prevalent, participating) companies (partnerships, enterprises), and from the dependent (subsidiary) companies or enterprises, when their bank account receive the proceeds from the sold goods (works, services) of the basic (prevalent, participating) companies (partnerships, enterprises);

in other cases provided for by this Code.

2. The tax bodies shall also exercise other rights provided for by this Code.

3. In cases stipulated by the legislation on taxes and duties, the Ministry of Taxation of the Russian Federation shall approve, within its terms of reference, the forms of applications for registration by tax bodies, the forms of calculations of taxes, and the forms of tax declarations, and shall establish the procedure for their completion, all of which shall be binding on the taxpayers.

Article 32. Duties of the Tax Bodies

1. Tax bodies and their officials shall be obliged to:

1) strictly comply with the legislation on taxes and fees;

2) monitor the observation of the legislation on taxes and fees as well as other normative legal acts in compliance therewith;

3) keep records of taxpayers in the established procedure;

4) explain the application of legislative and other normative legal acts on taxes as well as normative acts in compliance therewith, inform taxpayers free of charge of the effective taxes, provide them with established accounting forms and explain the procedure of their processing, the procedure of calculation and payment of taxes and fees;

5) refund or credit excessive amounts of taxes, interests and fines paid or collected in the manner as per this Code;

6) keep tax secrets;

7) forward to the taxpayer or another tax agent copies of tax audit acts and decisions of a tax body as well as in cases provided for by this Code, the tax notice and the demand to pay a tax and a fee.

2. Tax bodies shall perform other duties provided for in this Code and other federal laws.

3. In case of revealing the circumstances giving reason to suspect that violation of legislation on taxes and fees has been committed with the signs of a crime, the tax bodies shall within ten days submit the materials to a respective body of the tax police to decide on a criminal case initiation.

Article 33. Duties of Officials of the Tax Bodies

1. Officials of the tax bodies shall:

1) act in strict compliance with this Code and other federal laws;

2) realize the rights and duties of the tax bodies within the scope of their competence;

3) treat duly and courteously taxpayers, their representatives and other participants of the tax relations; respect their honor and dignity.

Article 34. The Authorities of Customs Bodies and Duties of Customs Officials with Respect to Taxes and Fees

1. The customs bodies of the Russian Federation shall use the rights and perform the duties of tax bodies to collect taxes and fees in connection with movement of goods across the customs territory of the Russian Federation as per the customs legislation of the Russian Federation, this Code and other federal laws on taxes and/or fees, as well as other federal laws.

2. Customs officials shall perform the duties as established by item 1 of Article 33 of this Code as well as other duties as per the customs legislation of the Russian Federation.

3. The customs bodies of the Russian Federation shall hold liable those persons who may be guilty of abuses of the legislation on taxes and fees in connection with movement of goods across the customs border of the Russian Federation in the manner established by the customs legislation of the Russian Federation.

Article 34.1. The Powers of the Agencies of the Governmental Extra-budgetary Funds

1. In cases when the legislation on taxes and dues charges the agencies of the governmental extra-budgetary funds with the duties of tax control, these agencies shall enjoy the rights and bear the duties of tax bodies, provided for by this Code.

2. The officials of the agencies of the governmental extra-budgetary funds shall exercise the duties provided for by Article 33 of this Code.

Article 35. Liability of Tax Bodies, Customs Bodies, the Agencies of the Governmental Extra-budgetary Funds and Also Their Officials

1. Tax bodies, customs bodies shall be liable for losses inflicted to taxpayers as a result of unlawful actions (decisions), actions or inaction of the former as well as unlawful actions (decisions) or inaction of the officials and other employees of those bodies in performing their office duties.

The losses incurred by the taxpayers shall be reimbursed at the expense of the federal budget in the procedure envisaged in this Code or other federal laws.

2. The agencies of the governmental extra-budgetary funds shall bear liability for the losses caused to taxpayers owing to their unlawful actions (decisions) or inaction, and also to the unlawful actions (decisions) or inaction of the officials and other functionaries of said agencies during the performance of their duties.

The losses caused to taxpayers shall be compensated at the expense of the corresponding extra-budgetary fund.

3. The officials and other employees of the bodies specified in Items 1 and 2 of this Article guilty of unlawful actions or the absence of actions shall bear responsibility provided for in the legislation of the Russian Federation.