The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has clarified the application of tax arrest in bankruptcy proceedings
On 20 November, the Supreme Court, addressing the issue of applying tax arrest, clarified that a tax arrest imposed during bankruptcy proceedings automatically creates a pledge in favor of the Federal Tax Service pursuant to Paragraph 2-1 of Article 73 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Therefore, the tax authority’s claims in bankruptcy proceedings must be treated as secured by a pledge, and the tax inspectorate acquires the rights of a pledgee with respect to the arrested property.
The Supreme Court also noted that the application of interim (security) measures and the subsequent emergence of pledge rights are conditioned by public obligations and, within the meaning of Paragraph 4 of Article 61.4 of the Federal Law “On Insolvency (Bankruptcy),” do not, in and of themselves, constitute transactions subject to challenge.
Earlier, in July, the Economic Collegium of the Supreme Court reached the opposite conclusion in the case of the Inzensky DOZ (Case No. А72-19547/2022), stating that a tax arrest does not grant the Federal Tax Service priority. However, the subsequent supervisory appeals filed by the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Federal Tax Service in September were returned without consideration on 19 November.
