The Federal Tax Service will have the right to block product cards on marketplaces for tax violations
The amendments apply to all operators of "intermediary digital platforms" — this is the term used in the text of the bill. The tax authority sends a suspension order simultaneously to all sites where the seller has placed his goods, works or services. Wildberries and Ozon have previously announced their willingness to work under the Platform Economy Act.
There are two grounds for blocking: the seller's failure to appear at the tax authority to testify within the prescribed period and the failure to submit documents at the request of the Federal Tax Service within the time specified in the notification. The measure qualifies as a way to ensure the fulfillment of obligations to pay taxes, fees and insurance premiums.
The text of the document states:
"The tax authority has the right to apply a method to ensure the fulfillment of the obligation to pay taxes, fees, and insurance premiums in the form of suspending the acceptance of orders and placing a card of goods, work, or services of a partner of the intermediary digital platform — the seller on the intermediary digital platform."
The Marketplace is obliged to execute the order within two days of receipt and at the same time notify the Federal Tax Service of the fact of suspension or resumption. Ignoring the order will cost the platform 100,000 rubles in fines.
Unblocking is provided in a mirror time frame: if the seller appeared at the tax authority on time and submitted all the requested documents, the Federal Tax Service will send an order to the marketplace to resume accepting orders no later than two days.
For importers who sell goods from China and other BRICS countries through Russian marketplaces, the mechanism creates a direct link between tax discipline and the ability to sell. One overdue requirement from the Federal Tax Service means that the cards disappear from all sites at the same time, not just one. The restoration of sales will take at least four days: two to fulfill the requirement of the tax authorities and two more to issue an unblocking order. For sellers with a wide assortment and high warehouse turnover, this downtime will result in significant losses.
The bill is posted in the electronic database of the State Duma and is undergoing consideration. The date of entry into force of the amendments is not specified in the published text.
