When you sell an apartment you need to pay tax. Apartment sales tax calculator. Penalties and penalties

40 Kaluga region

Date of publication: 07/15/2016

As a general rule, if property was owned by a citizen for more than three years (for property acquired from January 1, 2016, this period is increased to five years), then income from its sale is not subject to taxation (Clause 17.1 of Article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) . Otherwise, paying taxes cannot be avoided. But the tax amount can be reduced by using the right to a property tax deduction. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides for two options for their use - to deduct expenses incurred when purchasing property, or to apply a deduction in a fixed amount (clause 2 of Article 220 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Let's look at both options and see in which cases it is more profitable to use one or the other deduction.

At the end of last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law establishing new rules for taxation of income from the sale of property by individuals in terms of the period of ownership (). The innovations apply only to property acquired after January 1, 2016 (Clause 3, Article 4 of Law No. 382-FZ).

The minimum three-year ownership period, as today, will apply if at least one of the following conditions is met:

• if the property right was received by inheritance or under a gift agreement from a family member and (or) a close relative of the taxpayer;
• if ownership was obtained as a result of privatization;
• if the right of ownership was received by the rent payer as a result of the transfer of property under a lifelong maintenance agreement with dependents (clause 4 of article 217.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 11 of article 2 of Law No. 382-FZ).

Close relatives are considered to be relatives in a direct ascending and descending line - spouses, parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, full and half (having a common father or mother) brothers and sisters (Article 14 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation).

Now let's figure out how to calculate the period of ownership of property. As a general rule, ownership of property arises from the date of state registration and making the corresponding entry in the Unified State Register (Article 219 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). It is this date that is the basis (counting date) for calculating the period of ownership of the property (for example, an apartment) when providing a deduction. This means that if, for example, an apartment was purchased on May 15, 2011, then the three-year period of ownership should be considered to have expired on May 15, 2014.

But there are a number of cases when the date of state registration of property rights does not matter. So, for example, when receiving an inheritance, the right of ownership arises from the date of opening of the inheritance (that is, from the date of death of the testator), regardless of the date of its actual acceptance or registration of ownership (clause 4 of Article 1152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). And when receiving an apartment in a cooperative, the owner takes over his rights from the date of payment of the last share (Clause 4, Article 218 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). There is also a situation when the apartment was privatized before the Federal Law of July 21, 1997 No. 122-FZ “On state registration of rights to real estate and transactions with it” came into force (it came into force on January 29, 1998), and the certificate of title ownership of it was received later than this day. In this case, the date of receipt of the certificate of state registration of property does not matter - the apartment is considered to belong to the citizen from the moment of privatization (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 18, 2014 No. 03-04-05/35433).

Let us give several examples of calculating personal income tax when selling property, and we will proceed from the property ownership period of three years. So, if the property has been owned by the taxpayer for less than three years, then tax must be paid on the income from its sale. In this case, the tax amount can be reduced by using a tax deduction.

• property tax deduction in a fixed amount (1 million rubles for the sale of residential buildings, apartments, rooms, dachas, garden houses, land plots, as well as shares in them and 250 thousand rubles for the sale of other property - cars, non-residential premises, garages and etc.);
• deduction for the amount of actually incurred and documented expenses associated with the acquisition of property.

The taxpayer can use any of these deductions, but first you need to calculate which deduction is more profitable in a given situation.

An individual purchased an apartment for 7 million rubles in 2013, and in 2014 sold it for 8.2 million rubles. On the income received (1.2 million rubles), he must pay tax at a rate of 13%, but can reduce it by the amount of tax deductions. Let's see which deduction will be more profitable for the taxpayer to use.

This deduction is provided in the amount of 1 million rubles from income received from the sale of an apartment. This means that the tax amount should be calculated as follows:

(8,200,000 rub. – 1,000,000 rub.) x 0.13 = 936,000 rub.

Situation 2. Tax deduction in the amount of expenses incurred for the purchase of an apartment.

An owner who chooses this type of tax deduction can reduce the income received from the sale of an apartment by the amount of expenses incurred when purchasing it. Let's calculate the amount of personal income tax payable:

(8,200,000 rub. – 7,000,000 rub.) x 0.13 = 156,000 rub.

Thus, if the cost of the property being sold slightly exceeds the expenses incurred during its acquisition, then it would be most profitable to apply a deduction in the amount of expenses incurred.

An individual purchased a garage for 100 thousand rubles. in 2012, and sold it in 2014 for 260 thousand rubles.

Situation 1. Fixed tax deduction.

When selling a garage that has been owned for less than three years, the owner can take advantage of a deduction in the amount of 250 thousand rubles. Thus, the amount of tax payable will be:

(260,000 rub. – 250,000 rub.) x 0.13 = 1,300 rub.

Situation 2. Tax deduction in the amount of expenses incurred when purchasing a garage.

Since the cost of sale amounted to 100 thousand rubles, then by applying this deduction, the owner will be required to pay tax in the following amount:

(260,000 rub. – 100,000 rub.) x 0.13 = 20,800 rub.

In this case, it is more profitable for the owner to take advantage of a tax deduction in a fixed amount.

A fixed tax deduction is applied to the owner, and not to the property, which means that if the owner sold several types of property during the year, then the maximum deduction amount applies to all objects in the aggregate, and not to each individually (Clause 1, Article 220 Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Similar rules apply to property that was in shared ownership, but sold as a single object (that is, all shares were sold by their owners under one sales contract). Then the deduction amount is distributed in proportion to the shares in the ownership of real estate (subclause 3, clause 2, article 220 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

As for the deduction in the amount of expenses incurred, in order to use it, you need to collect all the documents confirming the expenses for the purchase of an apartment, for example, a purchase and sale agreement and an act of acceptance and transfer of property (subclause 2, paragraph 2, article 220 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation ). At the same time, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not provide any explanations regarding what types of expenses can be claimed for deduction. The only requirement is that they must be documented and directed towards the purchase of an apartment.

Such expenses may include the direct costs of purchasing an apartment, realtor services and interest on a mortgage loan. And the costs of paying the tariff for maintaining a loan account under a loan agreement, insurance of the apartment, as well as expenses for the purchase and installation of a metal door are not included in the tax deduction. To confirm expenses, the following documents are provided: cash receipt orders, sales and cash receipts, bank statements, payment orders, receipts from the seller for receipt of funds and others.

If the apartment was purchased under an exchange agreement, then the deduction is provided in the amount of the market value of the apartment established on the date of signing the agreement. In order to find out this value, you can use the services of an independent appraiser. His assessment report will be a document confirming the expenses incurred by the owner.

It often happens that the apartment was purchased using maternal capital. As officials explained, the amount of such one-time assistance can be included in the tax deduction and reduce the amount of income received from the sale of the apartment. The same applies to the amount of one-time subsidies for the purchase of housing - for example, as part of a program to provide housing for military personnel, police officers, etc.

Documents confirming the fact of sale of property, for example, a purchase and sale agreement and an acceptance certificate, as well as documents giving the right to apply one or another deduction (agreement for the purchase of an apartment, an agreement for the provision of realtor services, etc.) must be attached to the completed tax form. declarations in form 3-NDFL and submit them to the tax office at your place of residence. This must be done no later than April 30 of the year following the year of sale of the property (clause 1 of Article 229 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). If the declaration is filed later than this deadline, the tax office will charge a fine of 5% of the unpaid tax for each full or partial month of delay, but not more than 30% of the tax amount and not less than 1 thousand rubles. (clause 1 of article 119 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Please note that you do not need to fill out and submit a tax return only if you have owned the property for more than three years (Article 228 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). If the period of ownership of the property is less than three years, you will still have to fill out and submit a declaration to the tax authority - even if the income from the sale does not exceed the amount of the tax deduction.

Most taxpayers are aware that after the sale of an apartment, they may be required to pay taxes. But few of them know exactly in what case and in what amount the tax must be paid, and in what cases the taxpayer-seller is exempt from paying the tax. And given that laws are regularly changed, supplemented and various amendments are made, it becomes more difficult to understand.

The latest amendments came into effect at the beginning of 2106.

Sections of the article:

Apartment sales tax

This tax is paid by the seller, that is, the person who owned the apartment before the sale. The owner can be either a resident of the Russian Federation or a non-resident of the Russian Federation.

A resident is a person who resides permanently in Russia and spends at least 183 days a year in the country.

A non-resident is a person who lives in the country no more than 183 days a year.

In addition, there are a number of categories of taxpayers who are exempt from paying tax.

Those who do not pay tax:

But there is a limitation on the period of ownership of real estate.

Those taxpayers listed above who have owned the apartment for at least three years are exempt from paying tax upon sale.

All other taxpayers who are sellers of apartments must maintain ownership of the apartment for at least 5 years in order to be exempt from paying tax when selling it.

Previously, this period for them was also 3 years, but with the entry into force of amendments to the law at the beginning of 2016, this period increased.

Also, in accordance with the latest changes, tax is now levied on income generated from the sale of housing, the amount of which should not be less than 70% of the cadastral value of the property.

The amount of tax on the sale of an apartment

The tax rate for tax is equal to 13% of the income arising from its sale. Thus, in order to calculate the amount of tax payable, the amount of income must be calculated.

To calculate the tax, you should take into account the cadastral value of the apartment, multiplied by a factor of 0.7.

If the contract price of the apartment is higher, then it is permissible to take it into account and calculate the tax base from its size, multiplying by 0.7 in the same way.

Thus, when calculating the amount of tax to be paid, the legislator requires taking into account the maximum amount.

Tax deductions when selling an apartment

It is important to know that there are ways to reduce the tax base, and, accordingly, the amount of tax payable. One of these methods is the use of a property deduction.

This right appears to the seller's taxpayer if the apartment has been in his ownership for more than three years in the case of a gift, inheritance, or a rental agreement, or more than five years in other cases.

A deduction is a certain amount by which the income generated after the sale of an apartment is reduced when calculating the amount of tax payable. This value is 1,000,000 rubles.

It turns out that if the apartment was sold for 3,000,000 rubles, then the amount for calculating the tax will be 2,000,000 rubles. Next, from 2,000,000 rubles you need to calculate 13%. The amount received is subject to payment to the budget as tax.

If the apartment was sold for less than 1,000,000 rubles, and, in addition, the sale amount exceeds , then there is no need to pay tax.

In addition, you can use the costs of purchasing a sold apartment as a deduction when calculating taxes.

These expenses are taken into account only if they are supported by supporting documents: contracts, acceptance certificates, account statements, receipts for receipt of money and other documents confirming the transfer of money.

If confirmed expenses exceed income, then no tax is payable.

Filing a declaration and paying tax on the sale of an apartment

After selling the apartment, the seller must file a return on income from the sale to the tax office. It is submitted to the tax authority at the place of registration of the seller before April 30, in the year following the year in which the sale occurred.

So, if the apartment was sold in 2018, then the seller must submit a declaration by April 30, 2019. In case of failure to submit a declaration within the time limits specified by law, a fine is provided.

The tax itself must be paid by July 15 of the year following the year in which the transaction for the sale of the apartment took place. The seller also faces a fine for late payment of tax.

The declaration, accompanied by the necessary documents, is submitted to the tax office in person, or by an authorized person under a power of attorney, or by Russian mail with acknowledgment of delivery, or through agencies authorized to carry out such transmission through electronic communication channels.

The last method is the easiest.

Using it, experienced specialists will fill out the declaration correctly and without errors, suggest a comprehensive list of documents that should be attached to it, and ensure that the declaration is accepted by the tax authority on time.

In accordance with the latest legislative changes in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, an exemption from paying a tax of 13% on the sale of a privatized apartment is possible only in cases where individuals registered their ownership rights to this property five or more years ago. The innovation affects only those apartments that were registered from January 1, 2016. Real estate purchased earlier can be sold and not pay tax if you own it for a shorter period of three years or more.

The minimum period of ownership of three years remained unchanged for property received by inheritance, deed of gift, contract, as well as after the privatization of an apartment. In all these cases, there is no need to pay tax on the sale if three years have passed from the date of receipt of ownership rights.

For the rest of the real estate, a five-year minimum period was introduced to more effectively combat speculation in the market. We are talking about buying an apartment in order to sell it at a higher price and avoid taxes. It is assumed that with an increased period of five years, rather than three years, this will no longer be so beneficial, and such cases will arise less frequently.

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Bureaucratic aspects

First of all, before you sell an apartment, you should clearly understand that it is important to follow the sequence and rules of the transaction. First of all, this can be done only after the owner has completed state registration of rights to real estate and received the appropriate certificate. If it is not there, the sale is considered illegal. Moreover, during the trial you can get into very serious troubles with government agencies. The least that can be expected for this is the obligation to pay a considerable fine.

In turn, potential buyers should also be vigilant and demand not only a certificate, but also an extended extract from the unified state register of real estate rights.

It should also be noted that according to the new rules, when calculating the price of an apartment and the amount of tax, the cadastral value of the property is now taken into account. It is not permanent and is revised by the cadastral service annually, without the involvement of property owners. You can find out the latest information from the official website, by phone or during a personal visit to the Rosreestr office at your place of residence.

Rates and terms

The period of ownership of real estate is counted from the date of registration of ownership rights. This is the date indicated on the certificate of ownership obtained from Rosreestr. Different rules apply for an apartment that has been inherited. In this case, the period of ownership of the property is counted from the date of death of the testator. So, if a citizen has registered the right to an apartment four years after the death of the testator, he can immediately sell it and not pay tax. By law, it will be considered that three years of ownership have already passed.

If three or five years for an apartment received in 2016 have not expired, you will still have to pay tax, and you will need to submit a declaration of form 3-NDFL to the tax service.

There are only two tax rates:

In addition to personal income tax, other documents are also submitted, according to which responsible employees must verify the accuracy of the information provided.

Nuances and rules

To avoid the problems that income tax on the sale of a privatized apartment entails, you can also note the nuances associated with shared ownership. When such real estate is sold, more than one person is the taxpayer, and the 13% tax will not apply to the entire cost of the property. In this case, each of the co-owners will be the taxpayer. This means that the personal income tax declaration with documents must be submitted to each of them personally, and each is obliged to pay a tax in the amount of 13% of the amount of sale of their share. If the shares are not equal, then the tax will not be the same for everyone. At the same time, none of the co-owners is responsible for the others. If out of three owners only two filed personal income tax and paid the tax, only the third participant will pay the fine for non-payment.

If a citizen decides to sell an apartment that he bought on his own with his own personal funds, without the help of the state or third parties, he has the right to make a deduction and pay 13% tax on the result obtained. If this amount is zero or has gone completely negative, you do not need to pay tax, but you must submit personal income tax to the tax office.

Should I contact the tax office?

If you still cannot avoid paying a tax of 13%, and you need to sell the apartment earlier than after three years of ownership, you should not hesitate to contact the tax service. No one will do this for you and no one will remind you either. One day a subpoena will simply arrive.

After selling the apartment, you need to deduct 13% from its value, fill out a declaration in form 3-NDFL, prepare a package of documents and send it to the tax authority to submit reports. After this, the tax itself is paid.

Form 3-NDFL can be taken from the official website of the Federal Tax Service or during a personal visit to them. It is filled in with blue or black ink without corrections or strikethroughs.

Documents for 3-NDFL:

• A copy of the applicant's passport and identification code;
• A copy of the signed purchase and sale agreement for the apartment itself;
• for the sold apartment or a bank statement from the account indicating the transfer amount, which must coincide with that specified in the contract;
• If this is shared ownership, an additional tax distribution application must be submitted.

You must submit 3-NDFL within the deadlines established by law, otherwise penalties are inevitable. They are calculated monthly and their rate gradually increases.

Do not pay or reduce

To avoid paying the 13% tax when selling your apartment or to reduce the amount, there are several options. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides for the following cases:

If the sale is not in a hurry, and the property is highly valued, it is better not to rush into concluding the deal. If ownership is held for more than three or five years, the owner is exempt from the obligation to pay income tax in the amount of 13% on the sale in full. Declaration 3-NDFL or any other is also not submitted.

Fines for non-payment

Since the deadlines within which the 3-NDFL declaration must be submitted and payments made are provided for by the Tax Code, it also outlines administrative measures to suppress violations. If citizens did not have time or for other reasons did not submit the declaration on time, they will have to pay a fine in the following amounts:

Due to non-payment at all, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides for fines in the amount of:

• 20% of the unpaid tax amount;
• 40% in case of intentional tax evasion.

In accordance with the latest changes, in case of malicious non-payment and large debts, the violator may face not only administrative liability, but also imprisonment for up to three years. Such measures have been introduced to significantly reduce the incidence of violations.

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Any transactions related to real estate are controlled by the state. The amount of payments to the budget depends on the specific situation. The main factor influencing the amount of the fee is the period of ownership of the property. The seller is required to pay tax when selling an apartment that has been owned for less than 3 years.

The legal system imposes its own requirements on any income received within the country. Profit after the sale of square meters is also income and therefore subject to taxation.

Who is the taxpayer

The payment to the budget must be made by the former owner of the property who received the income. But there are differences in the tax rate for residents and non-residents of Russia; citizenship is not taken into account in any way:

1. Residents - people who are geographically in the Russian Federation for at least 183 days a year - pay a 13% tax.
2. Non-residents – those living in Russia for less than 183 days a year – pay 30% tax.

For representatives of the first category, the Tax Code provides for deductions and preferential conditions when calculating tax; for non-residents there are no such bonuses, and the period of their ownership of real estate upon sale does not matter.

The legislation does not have strict requirements for documents proving how many people are in the country. You can confirm your stay in Russia using a foreign or diplomatic passport, migration card, sailor’s passport, etc.

Practice shows that such evidence is extremely rarely required from citizens of the Russian Federation, but in order to avoid troubles with the tax authorities, you should take care of a possible reduction in the tax amount in advance.

Persons exempt from paying tax to the state when selling property who owned it for less than 3 years:

• those who received an apartment as a gift under an agreement;
• entered into inheritance rights;
• privatized the apartment;
• received housing by drawing up a life-long annuity agreement.

Also, according to the new legislation, a period of ownership of real estate of at least 5 years is exempt from paying tax (for those who purchased an apartment before January 1, 2016).

Tax amount

The tax is directly affected by the cadastral value of housing - it is believed that the amount of income received should be more than or equal to 70% of its value.

Cadastral value is the cost of housing on the real estate market established by government agencies, depending on the convenience of location, the presence of transport hubs, distance from the center, comfort, area and other factors. You can find out the figure at the Cadastral Chamber, from the cadastral passport or on the Rosreestr website.

When the tax is calculated, the maximum cost of the apartment is taken as the main indicator. If it is a cadastral one, a reduction factor of 0.7 is applied to it in 2017. The entire contractual agreement is taken into account. If the apartment was purchased before the beginning of 2016, then taxation does not depend on the cadastral value.

Currently there is a transition period in taxation. The reduction factor for 2017 is set at 0.7, but every year it will increase by one tenth until it reaches one.

Sellers should therefore consider when it would be best for them to part with their property and whether they should wait several years for the likely tax exemption.

When selling an apartment that has been owned for less than 3 years, the owner must fill out a 3-NDFL declaration and calculate the tax amount independently.

How is the tax amount calculated when selling residential real estate?

The tax amount is 13% of the cost of the apartment.

For example, the owner owned the apartment he bought for 1.5 years and sold it for 3,450,000 rubles. The cadastral value is 4,850,000 rubles.

For calculations, a larger figure is taken, in this case it is established by the state:

13%*(4 850 000*0,7) = 441 350

441,350 rubles should be paid to the budget.

Ways to reduce your tax amount

The updated Tax Code of the Russian Federation allows you to reduce the amount of income taxed in the reporting period by the amount of expenses.

Expenses include expenses for notary services and lawyers, renovation work in the apartment, etc. In such situations, when filing a 3-NDFL declaration, all receipts are attached. If expenses exceed income, then payment of tax will not be required, but a declaration must be submitted in any case.

Example:

At the beginning of 2017, an apartment was purchased for 3,500,000 rubles. The cadastral value is 3,200,000. There is a settlement receipt from a repair company for work carried out there in February in the amount of 300,000 rubles. The new tenant decides to sell the property and finds a buyer. They contact a law office and draw up a purchase and sale agreement for 3,900,000 rubles. 3000 was spent on a lawyer.

The tax is calculated as follows:

• the amount of income is 3,600,000;
• expenses amounted to – (3,500,000+300,000+3000) = 3,803,000;
• income minus expenses - (3,900,000 - 3,803,000) = 97,000, tax is calculated from this figure;
• (297 000*13%) = 12 610.

38,610 rubles – tax on income from the sale of an apartment, required to be paid to the budget.

The tax amount can be reduced by using the right to a tax deduction. When residential real estate is sold, it is 1,000,000 rubles.

• 2 people own an apartment in equal shares for 1 year;
• when selling it, you can draw up 2 contracts with the buyer and each of them, and reduce the amount subject to tax;
• when selling an apartment for 4,000,000 rubles, each contract is drawn up for a price of 2,000,000;
• minus the tax deduction, there remains 1,000,000 income per seller.

Thus, each taxpayer will give the state 130,000 rubles.

The deduction is allowed to be used only once a year.

This will not reduce the amount of tax, but if the owner purchases new real estate in the same tax period, then the income tax refund can compensate for what was previously paid.

How is tax paid?

When the period of ownership of the apartment was less than 3 years, after its sale it is necessary to calculate the tax yourself and submit a declaration to the tax authorities. The reporting period is considered to be a calendar year. Form 3-NDFL must be submitted by April 30 of the year following the reporting year.

If the tax amount is reduced due to expenses, then all documents confirming these expenses are provided along with the declaration.

Penalty for non-payment

If Form 3-NDFL was not submitted within the specified period, then for each month of delay you will have to pay a 5% fine of the tax amount, but not less than 1000 rubles. Even if there is nothing to pay into the budget, a penalty will still be charged.

The penalty will increase to 20% per month if payment is made late.

How can you circumvent the law and what are the consequences?

Many owners, not wanting to pay tax, indicate in the purchase and sale agreement a much smaller amount than what they actually received as a result of the transaction. For example, by writing a figure less than 1,000,000 in the documents, the taxable amount reduced by the deduction becomes zero.

But this practice often does not suit the buyer:

1. In the case of purchasing an apartment under a mortgage loan agreement, this point is fundamental.
2. If the court finds the transaction invalid, the apartment will return to the seller, and the buyer can only be left with the amount specified in the contract.

When the property is liked, the new owner will avoid possible risks of losing money if he agrees to pay the seller the tax amount. But this option is not suitable for many.

It was because of such speculative actions that changes were made to the legislation on taking into account cadastral value when calculating tax on income from the sale of real estate. Previously, calculations took into account the inventory value, which is significantly lower and does not reflect the true price of the object on the market. The changes also affected the time frame for owning real estate. Now everyone who has purchased an apartment since the beginning of 2016 and sells it until it has been owned for 5 years is required to pay tax.

Video about apartment sales tax

The sale of real estate owned for less than 3 years is formalized in a standard manner. But in this case, you should pay attention to paying tax. Filling out a tax return is mandatory, regardless of whether there is an amount due for payment to the budget or not.

Each person, when selling his property, is obliged by law to pay a tax to the state treasury. How to correctly file income tax on the sale of an apartment, and what benefits exist for taxpayers today - you can learn about this from this article.

Income Tax Legislation

In accordance with clause 1 of Article 207 “Taxpayers” of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, payers of personal income tax are residents of the Russian Federation, that is, individuals. persons living in Russia for more than six months without a break for long trips abroad, as well as non-residents receiving income here. Moreover, both categories of citizens must officially receive income, which will be subject to income tax.

According to para. 5 clause 1 art. 208 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, real estate (including an apartment), the sale of which has been carried out, can act as an object of taxable income. In accordance with this, if, for example, a non-resident does not perform work and does not receive a salary from it, but owns property on the territory of the state and sells it to someone, he is obliged to pay tax to the state budget. Tax evasion is usually punishable by law, meaning government agencies can impose administrative penalties on people who evade paying taxes.

It should be said that in accordance with paragraph 5, paragraph 3, Article 208 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, citizens of the Russian Federation who own property outside the Russian Federation and sell it at will are also required to pay income tax on time and in full. This is due to the fact that any influx of cash or non-cash funds from the sale of real estate is recognized as income of an individual, which he has the right to dispose of at his own discretion. According to this principle, it should be understood that the receipt of money from the sale of property, both on the territory of the Russian Federation and abroad, involves the payment of tax on the income received.

When income tax is calculated on the sale of an apartment, the taxable base is its value indicated in the sale and purchase agreement. As a rule, this is the market price established according to economic conditions in a certain region. If the contract specifies a price in a foreign currency, then it must be converted into Russian rubles at the established rate, since income is always declared in Russian currency.

Calculation of personal income tax when selling an apartment

According to clause 17.1 of Article 217 “Income not subject to taxation” of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the taxpayer is given the right not to pay tax when selling an apartment if it has been in his ownership for more than three years. In this case, it does not matter whether a person lived in this apartment or not - the only important thing is that he has in his hands a certificate confirming his ownership, which was issued more than three years ago. The date of issue indicated in this document is considered the starting point for this period of time, which can be relied upon when filing a declaration with the tax authorities.

If the property has been owned for less than three years, then it is necessary to pay personal income tax when selling the apartment, the rate of which is 13%. In this case, you can use 2 options for calculating tax, each of which will be beneficial under certain circumstances. These include:

1. use of property deductions provided by the state.

   At the moment, the property deduction is equal to 1 million rubles. (paragraph 1, paragraph 2, article 220 “Property tax deductions” of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), which is used to calculate the taxable base. So, this deduction is subtracted from the cost of the apartment indicated in the purchase and sale agreement, and then the resulting difference is multiplied by the tax percentage rate (13%).

   
   For example, if an apartment was sold for 2,150,000 rubles, then the calculation of the tax payable to the budget will be:
   (2,150,000 - 1,000,000) * 13% = 149,500 rub.

   It is necessary to take into account that the cost of the apartment may be less than 1 million rubles. For example, if it is 950,000 rubles, then there is no need to pay personal income tax, and the calculation itself will have the following picture:
   (950,000 - 1,000,000) * 13% = - 6,500 rub.

   Since the value is negative, the taxpayer is given the right to be exempt from paying tax to the budget.

2. using a formula to calculate “income - expenses”
   According to paragraph 2, paragraph 2, Article 220 “Property tax deductions” of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the taxpayer is given the right not to use a legal property tax deduction, replacing it with the opportunity to reduce the income received from the sale of an apartment. Thus, the income that was received in carrying out a transaction of this type is reduced by the expenses that were initially incurred when purchasing this property. It should be noted that all expenses must be documented and supported by relevant documents, otherwise the tax authorities may not take them into account.

   This option is very convenient in a situation where the amount of confirmed expenses will be more than 1 million rubles, otherwise there will be no point in it. For example, if an apartment was sold for 2,150,000 rubles, and the costs of its initial purchase or construction were 1,200,000 rubles, then the calculation of the tax payable to the budget will be:
   (2,150,000 - 1,200,000) * 13% = 123,500 rub.

   It should be noted that the expenses used to calculate tax can be very diverse, for example:

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   • development and analysis of design and estimate documentation for new construction;
   • purchase of various construction and finishing materials;
   • costs for the direct purchase of an apartment, both on the secondary housing market and in a building under construction;
   • expenses for payment for work or services related directly to construction or finishing activities;
   • costs of connecting various communication networks (water supply, gas supply, sewerage, electrical networks).

In addition, it is necessary to take into account that if the apartment was not purchased, but received by inheritance or as an object of gift, then there will be no expenses used to reduce the taxable base. In this situation, it is advisable to apply a property deduction, which to a certain extent will reduce the base for calculating personal income tax.

Features of tax calculation and payment

There are certain features that the income tax on the sale of an apartment has, and every taxpayer must know about them. A special situation is the sale of real estate that is jointly owned by several persons. How to calculate income tax if, for example, three people own an apartment in equal shares and its value is 2,150,000? As was calculated earlier, taking into account a property deduction of 1 million rubles. it is necessary to pay 149,500 rubles. to the budget. If the owners are three adults, then this tax burden is distributed among them in accordance with their shares.

In other words, 149,500: 3 = 49,667 rubles.

Moreover, if the owners are minor children, then their parents are required to pay their tax.

If several persons who are not related (for example, neighbors in a communal apartment) have ownership rights to an apartment, then each of them must pay tax in accordance with the share of the apartment that they own. Moreover, each of them must have a certificate confirming the right of ownership of part of the apartment being sold.

Another feature of paying tax when selling housing is the fact that if the funds received are used to purchase other real estate, the taxpayer is not exempt from paying the corresponding tax to the budget. According to the law, when purchasing an apartment, any taxpayer has the right, justified by law, to receive the established property tax deduction - up to 260,000 rubles. If there is a sale and then a purchase of real estate, then, in agreement with the tax office, the income tax and deduction can be offset. In other words, the taxpayer will not have to pay tax in the prescribed amount, but he will also not be able to receive a deduction. The only thing to take into account is the fact that both transactions must be carried out in the same tax period.

There are situations when unscrupulous taxpayers deliberately avoid paying taxes by deliberately understating the cost of an apartment in the purchase and sale agreement. Naturally, the smaller the income, the less tax will need to be paid to the state budget. But the tax authorities, due to the presence of precedents of this kind, carefully analyze and evaluate the cost of housing from different angles. If it is significantly lower than the market value of similar apartments in a given region or area, the higher the chances that tax officials will conduct a more detailed check on the fact of forgery or provision of incorrect information in advance. In confirming the fact of fraud, the state. The authorities have the right to impose an administrative penalty on the seller, but no one will exempt him from paying the corresponding tax.

The procedure for submitting documents to the tax authorities

In order to correctly process and pay income tax, it is necessary to draw up a tax return according to the model established by law (form-3NDFL). It indicates the basic registration data of the taxpayer, the amount of income received from the sale of the apartment and the amount of tax that must be paid. In this case, along with the declaration, you should collect and submit a package of documents that are necessary to verify the validity of tax payment. These include:

• a copy of the passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation;
• application for a property deduction (if this tax calculation option is used);
• certificate for the apartment (certificate of ownership);
• property purchase and sale agreement;
• payment receipt or receipt from the buyer for receipt of funds;
• copies of documents confirming expenses for the purchase of an apartment in the previous period (when using the “income - expenses” tax calculation method).

After checking all the documents and making a positive decision on the correctness of the declaration and calculation of the tax, the taxpayer needs to take the details to which the tax will be transferred. It is transferred only by non-cash method through any bank branch on the territory of the Russian Federation or branches of foreign banks located on the territory of the Russian Federation and having established powers. It will not be possible to pay personal income tax in cash, since such an action is prohibited for all taxpayers in the country.

In the case where the taxpayer is granted the right to be exempt from paying tax when selling an apartment (owned for more than three years or the tax is negative), he is not required to provide a tax return. This is indicated in paragraph 4 of Article 229 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, according to which income exempt from taxation may not be indicated by the taxpayer. But if an individual submits a package of documents, tax officials are obliged to accept and check it.