Court Fee Refunds in Russian Bankruptcy: Steps and Time Limits

Short answerA Russian court filing fee is refunded only on a ground stated in Article 333.40 of the Tax Code, not merely because bankruptcy has ended. Examples include overpayment, return or refusal of an application and certain case-termination situations. The payer applies for the refund. A deposit securing the insolvency practitioner’s remuneration follows different rules.

Identify the ground

The court order must confirm a return, refusal, termination or another statutory circumstance.

Separate the payments

The filing fee, court deposit and other case expenses use different refund procedures.

Observe the period

The general application period is three years, subject to the Tax Code’s detailed rules.

Rules checked on 21 October 2026: Tax Code Article 333.40 and Plenum Resolution No. 39. Numerical examples are hypothetical.

When the fee may be refunded

Situation	Typical result	Evidence
Overpayment	Refund of the excess	Payment and correct statutory amount
Application returned or refused	Refund or possible credit on refiling	Court order and payment record
Proceedings terminated or application left without consideration	Full or partial refund subject to exceptions	Reason and wording of the order
Complaint decided on the merits	The outcome alone normally creates no refund	A separate Article 333.40 ground

Important: voluntary satisfaction, withdrawal and procedural stage may affect the result. No fixed percentage should be promised without reviewing the exact order.

Fee, deposit and case expenses

The filing fee is paid to the budget for a legally significant act. A commercial-court deposit secures the financial manager’s remuneration and procedural funding. Publication, postal, expert and representation costs are also different. The payment purpose must therefore be identified first.

Which date starts the three-year period?

Tax Code Article 333.40(3) generally allows three years from payment. For the cases expressly listed there, including Article 333.40(1)(3), time runs from the relevant court act taking legal effect. Record both dates and identify the exact ground. Completion of bankruptcy does not itself restart the period.

The statutory refund period is one month from the refund application. This is not a deadline for obtaining a court order or certificate. Retain submission evidence and attachments; if payment is missing, check the application status, account details and stated ground.

If someone else paid the fee

Distinguish the statutory payer, whose filing obligation was performed, from the person who physically sent the money. Supreme Court Plenum Resolution No. 39, paragraphs 12–13, provides for application and refund to that payer even where another person paid on their behalf. Do not automatically use the representative’s account: reconcile the court order, payment and recipient details.

Refund workflow

Locate the payment

Check the payer, UIN, budget code, recipient, purpose and amount.

Obtain the court document

A court order, judgment or certificate should confirm the statutory ground.

Prepare the application

State the payer’s details, account, amount and ground and attach the supporting copies.

File with the correct tax authority

For court fees, Article 333.40 permits filing at the tax authority for the court’s location or the payer’s registration.

Refund or credit on a new filing

A refund returns budget funds; a credit applies an unrefunded amount to a new filing. Submit the credit request with that filing and prove that the original amount was not actually refunded. Under Resolution No. 39, paragraph 11, check the same budget and required payment identifiers, including the budget classification code. Do not use one amount twice.

Hypothetical overpayment arithmetic: if records prove payment of 30,000 ₽ while the proper fee for that particular filing is 20,000 ₽, the difference is 10,000 ₽. These are teaching figures, not current statutory rates. The legal ground and court documents determine whether that amount is refundable.

Describe the ground in the application

Please refund [amount] ₽ paid on [date, payment number, UIN] for a filing in [court], case [number]. Ground: [specific Tax Code Article 333.40 provision and court act, with its effective date where relevant]. Attachments: [supporting documents]. Payer’s bank details: [complete when applying].

This is explanatory wording, not an approved Federal Tax Service form. Use the form required for the chosen submission method and attach supporting records.

Documents

refund or credit application;
court order or certificate;
copy of the payment document;
the payer’s bank details;
representative authority, if relevant;
for a credit, the new filing and original payment documents.

FAQ

Is the fee refunded when a citizen is declared bankrupt?

No. The bankruptcy judgment itself is not a refund ground; Article 333.40 requires a separate circumstance.

Can a representative receive the money?

A representative may act under documented authority, but the statutory payer remains the refund recipient even if someone else originally transferred the money.

Can the fee be credited on refiling?

In statutory cases, yes, if the period is observed and the original payment and court order are attached.

How is an unused court deposit returned?

That is a separate procedure depending on the court order, actual expenses and deposit-account movements.

Does the three-year period always start with payment?

No. Article 333.40(3) expressly sets a court-act effective-date starting point for specified cases. Identify the exact ground before calculating the period.

Official sources

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Refund of Russian Court Filing Fees in Bankruptcy Cases