A judicial fine is a type of monetary penalty that can be imposed by a court on court participants who have violated the requirements of civil procedural legislation. Currently, this is the most common penalty, determined for violation of the rules of conduct in court, as well as contempt of court, which can be applied to the accused, the defendant, and various officials. The cases in which bailiffs can impose fines, as well as the amount of such fines, are fully stipulated by the Civil Code.
Reasons for use
A person may be released from criminal liability in the following cases:
- Committing a minor or moderate crime for the first time in life.
- It compensated for the damage caused for the commission of the crime.
If a person has committed several crimes of minor or moderate gravity for the first time, then this is not a reason to bring him to criminal responsibility. Here it is likely that a court fine will be awarded.
Citizens who have committed a crime for the first time include those whose criminal records have been expunged or expunged.
Compensation for damage refers to the adoption of various measures to make amends for the guilt of the person who committed the crime. This could be monetary compensation for the harm caused, an apology, or other assistance that will be sent to the victim for his recovery.
It is worth noting that promises regarding compensation for damage suffered do not relieve the guilty person from criminal liability in the future.
In what cases is a court fine imposed?
- The crime was committed by a person for the first time, namely:
- The citizen committed one or more acts, but was not punished criminally for any of them.
- The person is exempt from criminal liability or was not brought to it at all.
- The sentence for a previously committed offense has not yet entered into force.
- The sentence that was passed earlier was annulled (removal of a criminal record, expiration of a criminal record, expiration of the statute of limitations).
- The sentence that was passed earlier ceased to be considered a crime at the time the judge considered the case.
- Committing crimes of minor or medium gravity.
- The damage suffered from the crime was compensated and smoothed over.
When the fine is reduced: mitigating circumstances
The Tax Code lists mitigating circumstances. You can use the list or refer to something of your own. If at least one circumstance mitigates the guilt, the tax office is obliged to reduce the fine by at least two times, or even more - Art. 114 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 16 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation No. 57.
Mitigating circumstances from 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation are as follows:
— The report was not submitted and the tax was not paid due to a combination of difficult personal circumstances. For example, illness and lack of money;
— The entrepreneur was threatened or violated the law due to financial dependence;
— There was no money in the individual entrepreneur’s account.
The tax office itself suggests taking into account the following:
— The delay in filing reports and paying taxes is insignificant;
— Admission of guilt, independent additional payment of tax, submission of an updated declaration;
— Social orientation of business, for example, agricultural production;
— Stopping the activities of individual entrepreneurs;
— Retirement age of individual entrepreneurs;
— No damage to the budget, constant overpayment, committing a violation for the first time.
Examples of mitigating circumstances that worked
An entrepreneur was fined 29,000 rubles for failure to pay personal income tax after losing the right to a patent. The court reduced the fine to 900 rubles. We took into account that the entrepreneur had no intent and had no old tax debts - case No. A63-12226/2016.
The company submitted clarifications for SZV-M for employees on time. Moreover, insurance premiums were paid on time. The Pension Fund fined 4,500 rubles. The court reduced the fine four times to 1,125 rubles. The rights of workers were not violated, the budget was not damaged either - case No. A28-14462/2020.
There is also an aggravating circumstance in the code - fortunately, only one. The fine is doubled if the tax office has already issued a fine for the same violation in the last 12 months.
