Checking a counterparty by TIN (INN, the Russian taxpayer identification number) consists of a sequence of free official services — a single number typed into a search engine is not enough. A TIN is an identifier used to find a record in a register; by itself it does not show solvency, the signatory’s authority, or good faith.
The list of sources for checking a counterparty — the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (EGRUL), “Transparent Business,” the courts, the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP) — is broadly known; the harder part is something else: what to enter in which field, which record to treat as a reason for questions and which as business as usual, and what to save in case the decision has to be justified.
What a TIN Confirms and What It Doesn’t
For a legal entity, the TIN points unambiguously to a specific record in EGRUL — this removes the problem of identical or similar names: a TIN finds exactly one organization.
For an individual entrepreneur (IP), it works differently. A TIN is assigned to an individual as a taxpayer and is not in itself equivalent to a single, unchanging registration record as an IP. Article 22.1(4) of Federal Law No. 129-FZ of 8 August 2001 (the law on state registration of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs) prohibits registering a citizen as an IP again until the previous registration has lost force, and sets waiting periods — one year after a forced termination of activity, three years after exclusion by decision of the registration authority. This means the same person may have registered as an IP more than once. The practical conclusion: by TIN, it is the current status and the OGRNIP (primary state registration number of an individual entrepreneur) from the current extract from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs (EGRIP) that should be checked — the mere fact that the TIN exists is not enough for this.
Separately, a TIN says nothing about authority, solvency, or business reputation. The person entitled to act on behalf of the organization without a power of attorney is shown in the EGRUL extract; for any other signatory, it is worth finding out the basis of their authority and requesting a supporting document — usually a representative’s power of attorney, although the law also allows other grounds (Article 182(1) of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). The register does not show restrictions that the charter places on the director’s authority — this is covered in detail in the article How to Vet a Company and Its Beneficial Owners Before a Deal (KYB). The extract also names the participants of an LLC (OOO), but that is not the same as the beneficial owner — the ultimate individual who controls the company through a chain of ownership: how they are established is covered in the article Beneficial Owner (UBO): Who It Is, How to Establish One, and Why It Matters.
Verification Procedure: Legal Entity
For a legal entity, the check follows the same sequence regardless of industry — only the additional steps for the transaction scenario differ. The service forms below were checked live on 17 October 2026; if a long time has passed since that date, the interface should be checked again — services change. All the services mentioned in this article are Russian-language.
1. Compare the TIN With the Documents
Before opening any register, compare the TIN, the KPP (tax registration reason code), and the payee’s name with one another across the invoice, the contract, and the counterparty card. If anything doesn’t match, stop until the reason is clarified.
2. Check the Record in EGRUL
On egrul.nalog.ru, enter the TIN, the OGRN (primary state registration number), or the organization’s name. The extract is generated free of charge as a PDF with the tax authority’s enhanced qualified electronic signature — the applicant does not need a certificate for this (Article 7(1) of 129-FZ). Look at the status, registration date, address, the person entitled to act without a power of attorney, the participants of the LLC, the OKVED codes (the Russian classifier of economic activity codes), and any records of unreliable information, liquidation, reorganization, or upcoming exclusion from the register. The information in the service is updated daily.
3. Look at the “Transparent Business” Summary
On pb.nalog.ru, enter the TIN, OGRN, OGRNIP, name, or full name. Look at tax arrears and timely filing of reports, disqualification of the director, signs of a mass-registration address and director, restrictions on participating in organizations, the tax regime applied, and the number of employees. The former separate service service.nalog.ru/zd.do for information on arrears has been decommissioned — this data is now here; the service contains no information on beneficial owners.
4. Check Commercial Court Cases
On kad.arbitr.ru, enter the organization’s name, TIN, or OGRN. Look at the company’s role in the case — plaintiff or defendant — the subject of the dispute, the amounts, and the stage of proceedings. The service covers only commercial (arbitrazh) courts; cases in courts of general jurisdiction are not visible here.
5. Check Enforcement Proceedings
In the FSSP database (fssp.gov.ru/iss/ip), for a legal entity use the “Search by legal entity TIN” tab or search by name with a choice of territorial body. Look at the proceedings initiated, their subject, and the amount. The database is not an archive of all proceedings for all time: under Article 6.1(4) of Federal Law No. 229-FZ of 2 October 2007 (the law on enforcement proceedings), the information is publicly available until the day the proceedings end or are terminated; some proceedings ended on certain grounds (for example, when recovery is impossible) remain publicly available for up to three more years, while others cease to be publicly available after the established periods expire. The absence of a record does not mean there were never any proceedings.
6. Check Bankruptcy Notices
Fedresurs and the Unified Federal Register of Bankruptcy Information (EFRSB) are the official sources of bankruptcy notices; this article does not analyze the interface of these resources, and the input fields should be looked up directly on the resources themselves.
7. If Necessary — Check According to the Scenario
Not every transaction needs all sources at once. Depending on the scenario, you may need: GIR BO, the State Information Resource of Accounting (Financial) Statements — the company’s financial statements (bo.nalog.gov.ru); the register of unscrupulous suppliers — for public procurement; registers of sector-specific licenses — for licensed activities; the register of account transaction suspensions service.nalog.ru/bi.do — by TIN and the BIC (bank identification code) of a specific bank. If you need to separately check a future signatory or a new director by full name who has not yet appeared in the “Transparent Business” summary — the register of disqualified persons service.nalog.ru/disqualified.do.
How Checking an IP Differs
For an individual entrepreneur, the same sequence applies with three adjustments.
First, as described above, an IP’s TIN is the identifier of an individual taxpayer, and the same person may have registered again after the previous registration lost force. It is the current status and the OGRNIP from the current EGRIP extract that should be checked — the mere existence of a TIN is not enough.
Second, in the FSSP database an entrepreneur is searched for as an individual — by surname, first name, and date of birth. Search by TIN in this database is available only for legal entities. The search may require passing a CAPTCHA. Surnames and first names often coincide, so the result should be compared with other known details about the person to avoid confusing them with a namesake. If the result of the check matters, allow for an additional cross-check.
Third, authority works differently: an entrepreneur usually acts in their own name, without a power of attorney, while a representative needs a power of attorney — this should be clarified directly if the documents are signed by someone other than the IP.
Source, What to Enter, and Limitations
| Source | What to enter | Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| EGRUL/EGRIP (egrul.nalog.ru) | TIN, OGRN/OGRNIP, or name/full name | The extract is free, a PDF with the enhanced qualified electronic signature of the Federal Tax Service (FNS); data is updated daily |
| “Transparent Business” (pb.nalog.ru) | TIN, OGRN, OGRNIP, name, or full name | No information on beneficial owners; arrears are here, not on the decommissioned zd.do |
| Commercial Courts Case Database (kad.arbitr.ru) | Name, TIN, or OGRN | Commercial courts only; does not cover courts of general jurisdiction |
| FSSP, database of enforcement proceedings (fssp.gov.ru/iss/ip) | Legal entity — the legal entity’s TIN, or name with territorial body; IP — surname, first name, date of birth | Not an archive of all proceedings — some information ceases to be publicly available after the established periods expire (Article 6.1(4) of 229-FZ) |
| Fedresurs and EFRSB | — | Source of bankruptcy notices; input fields are not analyzed in this article |
| Register of disqualified persons (service.nalog.ru/disqualified.do) | An individual’s full name, or a legal entity’s name or TIN | Needed to check a specific person who has not yet appeared in the general summary |
| SME register (rmsp.nalog.ru) | TIN, OGRN, OGRNIP, or name/full name | Shows the category of small or medium-sized business, not financial indicators |
| Account transaction suspensions (service.nalog.ru/bi.do) | TIN and the bank’s BIC | A specific bank is needed — a TIN alone is not enough |
How to Read the Result: Fact, Data Gap, or Signal
| Level | Example | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Established fact | “Liquidated” status in EGRUL | The fact is confirmed by the register; no further checking of this item is needed |
| Incomplete database | Proceedings not found in the FSSP database; financial statements not yet in GIR BO | The database does not show everything: the FSSP database shows only current proceedings and some of the ended ones, and financial statements appear with a lag after the filing deadline |
| Signal for further checking | A claim under consideration, tax arrears, a recent change of director, a mass-registration address, a young company | A reason to clarify details, not a ground for automatic refusal |
| The client’s decision | Work with the counterparty, request documents, reduce the advance payment, or refuse | The business makes the choice itself based on its own risk profile; universal thresholds — amount of debt, company age, number of cases — do not exist as a published norm; a business sets its internal thresholds itself |
A Walkthrough on a Fictitious Example
A hypothetical example, with no real data: Example LLC (a fictitious name; the TIN is not given — the example is hypothetical) has issued an invoice for prepayment.
- Comparison with the documents. The invoice and the contract show the same TIN and KPP, and the payee’s name matches the name on the invoice — no discrepancies.
- EGRUL. Status — “active,” registration date — three years ago, the person acting without a power of attorney — the general director, no records of unreliable information or upcoming exclusion.
- “Transparent Business.” As of the check date, no tax arrears are recorded, reports were filed on time, and the director is not disqualified.
- Commercial court cases. One case as defendant: a supplier’s claim, the case is under consideration, no decision yet.
- FSSP. As of the check date, no proceedings found.
- Bankruptcy. As of the check date, no notices.
Interpretation: the organization’s status is an established fact based on EGRUL data as of the check date; the absence of arrears, enforcement proceedings, and bankruptcy notices is the result of a specific search on that same date, not a guarantee that none exist at all. An unresolved court case is a signal for clarification, not a ready conclusion about bad faith: before deciding what to do about it, it is worth finding out the amount claimed, the subject of the dispute, and its connection to the current transaction — the role of defendant alone says nothing about the significance of the case. A reasonable decision is not an automatic refusal: gather these details, weigh them against the scale of the transaction, and only then choose the next step. The extract as of the check date is worth saving in any case.
What to Save After the Check
- The EGRUL or EGRIP extract as a PDF as is, without re-saving it in another format: the file contains the tax authority’s enhanced qualified electronic signature and its visualization; if necessary, the authenticity of the signature itself can be checked separately — the visualization in the file is not in itself a completed verification.
- The date and time of each check: registers are updated, and the date records exactly what was visible at the time the decision was made.
- Screenshots of the results of those services that do not generate a downloadable file — for example, sections of “Transparent Business” or the Commercial Courts Case Database.
- A short comment on each signal found: what exactly raised the question and what decision was made.
When a Primary Check Is Not Enough
The procedure described covers a primary check by TIN — it does not automatically become a comprehensive counterparty check and is not in itself the fulfillment of obligations that the law places on certain categories of business. The law does not set a universal counterparty-checking checklist for every business: Article 54.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not use the concept of “reasonable diligence” at all. The diligence exercised is taken into account as a circumstance when a tax dispute is assessed (FNS Letter No. BV-4-7/3060@ of 10 March 2021). At the same time, a counterparty’s violation of tax legislation cannot in itself be a standalone ground for concluding that tax was unlawfully reduced (Article 54.1(3) of the Tax Code). That is exactly why a single signal should be checked first: by itself, it is not a conclusion about bad faith.
This does not mean that counterparties need not be checked at all: certain entities and certain scenarios — organizations subject to 115-FZ (the anti-money laundering law), banks, public procurement — may have special obligations; what exactly entities subject to 115-FZ are required to do is covered in the article 115-FZ: What Businesses Are Required to Do and How to Meet the Law’s Requirements. For a comprehensive assessment before a major transaction — with the history of court disputes over several years, sanctions lists, and a check of beneficial owners — a one-time check by TIN is not enough; such an analysis is given in the article Due Diligence: What It Is and How to Vet a Counterparty.
With dozens of counterparties a day, manually going through the registers step by step as above stops scaling. According to the description of the NeuroVision product as of 17 October 2026, the service checks a counterparty by TIN, collecting data on the company, its director, and founders from registers, and returns a status for each check — “passed,” “failed,” or “insufficient data” — with the records found. Checking a person or IP against a single register costs from ₽5; the price of checking a company is on request.
Checking a counterparty by TIN is a sequence of free official services with different input fields and different scopes of information: EGRUL or EGRIP, “Transparent Business,” the Commercial Courts Case Database, and the FSSP database. For an IP this sequence differs: in the FSSP database the IP is searched for as an individual, and in the register you look at the current status and the OGRNIP — the mere existence of a TIN is not enough.
Each result should be assigned to one of the levels: an established fact, a data gap due to an incomplete database, a signal for further checking, or a decision the business makes itself based on its own risk profile. A single signal — a debt, a claim, a change of director — is not in itself a reason for automatic refusal. A saved extract and the date of the check will be useful if the decision has to be explained. How deep further checking should go depends on the amount and subject of the transaction, the payment terms, and how many signals were found at this stage — there are no universal thresholds here. Major transactions and organizations with special obligations require a deeper check than the procedure described.
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