Tax officials and police begin to fight the shadow sale of currency against the background of currency restrictions

The Federal Tax Service in its directive instructs to organize cooperation with law enforcement agencies to identify violations related to the purchase and sale of foreign currency bypassing banks. Hand-to-hand sales are carried out in social networks, Telegram-channels and Internet services with advertisements, the letter says: in the current conditions it "threatens the stability of the RF currency and the stability of the internal currency market". At the beginning of March, the Federal Tax Service said that it had suspended checks on compliance with currency legislation "in order to reduce the administrative burden on organizations and citizens. However, the new instruction states that currency speculations of individuals do not fall under the moratorium - checks related to the purchase and sale of currency bypassing commercial banks should be carried out as usual. The Tax Service refers to two "sanctions" presidential decrees (79 and 81), aimed at limiting the use of foreign currency by residents. Since operational measures are not within the authority of the Federal Tax Service, it instructed the territorial authorities to organize cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The law enforcement agency confirmed the possibility of joint measures, it follows from the letter. The document also states that buying and selling currency bypassing banks - is an administrative offense under Article 15.25 of the Administrative Code (violation of currency legislation), which provides for a fine of 75% to 100% of the committed transaction for individuals and legal entities. The seller and the buyer of foreign currency will be held liable, warns Yury Fedyukin, managing partner of legal company Enterprise Legal Solutions. He notes that in some cases the criminal responsibility may be applied: if the seller received income exceeding $2 million 250 thousand he may be prosecuted under clause 172 of the Criminal Code (illegal banking). The punishment under it is up to four years in prison and up to seven years if the income exceeds 9 million rubles.