CASSATION SAVED BANKRUPTS FROM EXTRA TAXES

The First Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction, in the framework of a review of judicial practice (case 88a-3378/2023), explained that in the case of the sale of the debtor's real estate at bankruptcy auctions, he does not have the opportunity to re-register the property himself, if neither the buyer nor the arbitration manager did this. Accordingly, the property tax in this case significantly harms the debtor's property interests and is not legitimate, since the bankrupt did not actually own real estate.

The bankruptcy proceedings of an individual entrepreneur were completed in 2018, but the real estate tax was accrued to the bankrupt already for 2019. To re-register the sold property, the bankrupt had to file a lawsuit and wait for a decision in 2020.

The individual entrepreneur was declared bankrupt back in 2017. Nine debtor's properties were sold at auction. According to the results of the auction, Parus LLC won, a purchase and sale agreement was concluded with it.

The bankruptcy procedure ended in 2018, at the same time the powers of the debtor's financial manager ended.

Despite the completion of the procedure, it soon became clear that the purchased property was not subject to state re-registration, as a result of which the Interdistrict Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service of Russia demanded to recover property tax arrears and penalties from the bankrupt within the framework of administrative proceedings. The tax service justified its claims by the fact that in 2019 the bankrupt was still the owner of the sold real estate, which means that he still had the obligation to pay property tax on individuals.

The court of first instance of the Interdistrict Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service of Russia refused to satisfy the claims, but the appeal overturned the judicial act and satisfied the claim.

The first instance relied on the fact that, by a court decision, the debtor was declared bankrupt, and the property on which the tax was calculated, under the contract of sale from 2017, passed into the possession of LLC "Parus". Accordingly, it was from 2017 that the defendant was not the owner of this property, and he had no obligation to pay tax on this property.

Due to the fact that the buyer of the property and the manager did not re-register the property, the district court assigned the decision on the bankruptcy claim of 2020 to LLC "Parus" to re-register the ownership right.

However, the appeal decided that the above circumstances are not sufficient grounds for the release of the bankrupt from paying tax until the re-registration is made.

The Court of Cassation annulled the judicial act of a lower instance and sent the case for reconsideration. In substantiation of his position, he explained that in accordance with paragraphs 5 and 7 of Article 213.25 of the Bankruptcy Law, an individual entrepreneur who was declared bankrupt, given that the purchase and sale agreement with Parus LLC was concluded in 2017, and the bankruptcy proceedings ended in 2018, has the authority to file there were no applications for registration of termination of ownership of the sold objects.

The appeal, according to the conclusion of the Court of Cassation, did not give a proper assessment of the circumstances of the alienation of the bankrupt's property by the managers in 2017. Meanwhile, it was they who determined the date of termination of the defendant's tax obligations. The appeals also had to find out about the presence or absence of reliable information from the Tax on the retirement of the bankrupt's real estate.