Supreme Court of Russia put an end to the case with the omission of the procedural time limit

The Economic Board considered a case on the challenging of the court decision, which recognized the multimillion-dollar debt of an insolvent legal entity in favor of a third company, by one of the creditors (tax authority).  The court of appeal and the district court refused to consider the complaint due to the fact that a one-month procedural time limit had been missed missed.

The disputed debt to the company was formed on the basis of a contract agreement, according to which the bankrupt accepted work on the reconstruction of the earthen railway track, but did not pay for them. The existence of the debt was confirmed, among other things, by an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements signed between the parties.

The court recognized the claims as justified and satisfied the claim.

At the same time, already in the process of considering the bankruptcy case, the bankruptcy trustee of the debtor filed for an amended tax return. From the information provided by the Federal Tax Service, it became clear that the debt previously declared to it was significantly lower than the debt that has been actually formed. After that, the tax authority made a decision to challenge the debt to the contractor, referring to the significant difference between the size of the bankruptcy estate of the debtor and all the claims of creditors.

The court of appeal and the district court refused to consider the tax authorities’ complaint, citing the fact that the procedural deadline was missed and the possibility of obtaining information about the court case and the decision from open sources.

However, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation demanded to reconsider the issue, pointing out that at the time of the decision, as well as its entry into force, the tax authorities had no grounds to challenge the judicial act. However, they arose after the submission of an amended declaration, which significantly changed the balance between the claims of creditors and the size of the bankruptcy estate (decision No. 305-ES21-23462 of March 31, 2022).