Selling an apartment may be necessary for various reasons, but at the same time, everyone is interested in whether it is required to pay tax on the sale of an apartment. In fact, after completing this process, a citizen receives a certain income, from which a fee should be charged. But there are certain conditions under which there is no need to transfer tax. Each seller must figure out how much time it takes to own an apartment so that after its sale it is not necessary to pay a fee. Additionally, the possibility of using a deduction to reduce the tax base is taken into account.
How much tax is charged?
Initially, you need to figure out what the fee is charged. Each owner who has sold the property or part thereof must know what tax is levied on the sale of the apartment, and whether he needs to pay this fee.
For the calculation, the amount specified in the contract drawn up for the sale of the object is used. Often, sellers ask buyers that a smaller amount be written in this agreement, which will allow them to avoid tax when using the deduction. This led to the need to amend the law, therefore, not only the sale price, but also the cadastral value of the object is now taken into account. If it is higher than the value that is available in the contract, then the tax rate is calculated precisely at the cadastral price.
Such changes are justified by the fact that it is necessary to reduce the number of fraudulent transactions, the main purpose of which is avoiding taxation. The revealed amount will be charged further 13%. The tax base may be reduced by using a deduction.
Legislative regulation
The requirement to pay tax on income derived from the sale of real estate is governed by various regulations. These include art. 117 and Art. 220 Tax Code, as well as Federal Law No. 382.
The documents indicate whether it is necessary to pay tax on the sale of an apartment, how this fee is determined, and also under what circumstances sellers are exempted from having to carry out this process.
When is tax not paid?
There are certain conditions under which people who sell property do not have to pay income tax. Tax after the sale of an apartment is not paid (for various reasons) only if there is evidence of these circumstances. It is not required to calculate and pay the fee in situations:
- after the purchase, the seller owned the apartment for more than five years;
- after receiving the property by inheritance, as a result of making a donation or by a court decision, it is necessary to wait 3 years, so that later the property can be sold with tax exemption;
- if the apartment was sold at a lower price than its purchase price, since it is necessary to pay income tax, but it will be necessary to prove officially that the seller really did not make a profit, for which contracts for the purchase and sale of housing are used;
- the cost of real estate is less than 1 million rubles, since each seller of the property can take advantage of a deduction of 1 million rubles, and this is exactly the amount the tax base is reduced, therefore, at a low price of housing, no fee is required.
Unreasonable understatement of housing costs can no longer be applied. This is due to the fact that the tax on the sale of an apartment for individuals can be calculated on the basis of the cadastral value if it is higher than the sale price of the property.
When do I need to transfer funds?
A fee is paid next year. Therefore, if the apartment is for sale in 2017, and at the same time there is a need to calculate and transfer the fee, then it must be transferred to the budget by July 15, 2018.
If there are delays, then penalties are charged that significantly increase the total amount that must be transferred to the budget.
How much do you need to own an apartment in order not to pay tax after its sale?
Significant changes were made in 2016, so now all people should know how to correctly determine this period so that they are not held accountable for violations. The basic rules include:
- if the property was purchased after 2016, then you need to wait 5 years to sell it without having to pay a fee;
- if the object was received on the basis of other transactions in which the recipient of the apartment did not spend any money, for example, he received housing by inheritance or donated on the basis of a correctly drawn up donation, then you can sell it without charging tax in three years.
The tax on the sale of an apartment that has been owned for less than 3 years will have to be paid on a mandatory basis. At the same time, the countdown begins from the moment when the citizen receives a document confirming his right to real estate. For example, if an object is bought on the basis of shares, then the countdown must be carried out from the moment when the last payment is made.
Do I have to pay tax on donated or inherited housing? yes, if less than three years have passed using this property and you want to sell it. Let's say you have owned an apartment for 3 years. In this case, it is not necessary to calculate and transfer the sales tax, but it is necessary to transfer evidence to the Federal Tax Service that more than three or five years have actually passed.
Is it possible to underestimate the price?
Every person selling real estate wants to avoid taxation. Many people prefer not to pay the tax on the sale of an apartment on the basis of the fact that they specifically underestimate the sale price of the property, so when using the deduction, there is either no tax at all or it is small.
This method cannot be used since 2016. This is due to the fact that before calculating the fee, the FTS employees compare two indicators, represented by the sale price and cadastral value of the object. The calculation is based on the amount that will be more. Therefore, avoiding taxation in this way will not work. The tax on the sale of a new apartment that was bought or received less than three or five years ago will have to be paid in any case.
How to avoid paying tax when owning an apartment for less than 5 years?
There are certain opportunities that really can not pay this fee, even if the apartment belongs to a person less than five years. Apartment sales tax is not paid under the following conditions and situations:
- real estate was bought before 2016, therefore, it still has a condition for it, under which it is necessary to wait three, not five years, in order to be able to sell it without paying a fee;
- the apartment was received as a gift or inheritance, therefore, the citizen did not pay money for it, which leads to the fact that it is enough to own the property for only 3 years to later sell it and not pay tax;
- the seller can prove that as a result of two transactions within three years he did not make a profit, therefore he sold the object for a slightly lower price than it was originally bought, but under such conditions it is important that the sale price is not lower than the cadastral value of the apartment ;
- Transactions are made in respect of low-cost housing, therefore, its cadastral and selling price is below 1 million rubles, which leads to the fact that through the use of a deduction, a negative tax base is obtained at all.
All of the above conditions must be proved by a citizen using official papers, therefore it is required to transfer the relevant documentation to the Federal Tax Service.
Nuances of the sale of an inherited apartment
If a citizen receives the property by inheritance, then he needs to pay a state fee, which depends on the value of the object, as well as deal with the long registration of the apartment. Additionally, for its registration in the property you need to pay a fee in the amount of 2 thousand rubles. Often after registration, a person has a desire to sell an object. It must be borne in mind that under such conditions the tax on the sale of an apartment, inherited by inheritance, will have to be paid.
Preliminarily, some factors should be evaluated:
- it is determined what is the size of the cadastral value of real estate, since it is this indicator that will be used to calculate tax if the apartment is sold at a lower price;
- 1 million rubles is deducted from the amount received, represented by a deduction;
- it is calculated from this value of 13% in order to determine how much will have to be paid to the budget, since if it is too significant, it is often advisable to wait three years to later sell the property without tax.
Not for all apartments, the cadastral value has yet been calculated. This is due to the fact that it is determined only by a special commission consisting of qualified BTI employees, therefore this indicator is often not yet determined for a specific object. In this case, the heir will have to order such an assessment on his own, which carries additional costs.
What is the deduction offered?
Anyone planning to sell an apartment or even a room should remember that he has the opportunity to use a tax deduction. It is standard for all apartments is 1 million rubles. What is the amount of tax on the sale of an apartment in this case?
For example, the apartment was sold for 3.4 million rubles, and this amount is higher than the cadastral value of the object. The transaction was completed within a year after the property was purchased. Is it necessary to pay tax on the sale of an apartment in this case? Since three or five years have not yet passed since the registration of real estate, the fee must be correctly calculated and listed.
The tax base is initially calculated, for which the selling price is reduced by the deduction size: 3.4 - 1 = 2.4 million rubles. Further, tax is levied on this amount: 2.4 million x 13% = 312 thousand rubles.
You can use the deduction to reduce the tax on the sale of an apartment only if the seller has evidence that he spent his money on the property initially. This evidence may be presented by documents:
- payment transfers, on the basis of which the funds were transferred to another account, therefore, the purchase of the object was completely carried out through the bank;
- receipt indicating the transfer of funds;
- the act of acceptance of the object indicating the price of this property;
- fiscal checks that can confirm not only the purchase of housing, but also its decoration.
Only after preparing the evidence can you take advantage of the deduction.
When is it advisable to refuse a deduction?
The seller can decide whether the sale price will decrease by the size of the deduction or the purchase price of the property. For example, in 2016 an apartment was bought for 2.3 million rubles. In 2017, it is sold for 4.2 million rubles.
If you use the deduction, the amount of tax on the sale of an apartment will be equal to: (4.2 - 1) x 13% = 416 thousand rubles.
If you use a method that involves determining the actual profit received, then the amount of the fee will be: (4.2 - 2.3) x 13% = 247 thousand rubles.
Therefore, it is advisable in such a situation to refuse a deduction in order to reduce the tax on the sale of an apartment. The new law indicates that if there is no way to confirm the purchase price of the object, then in any case you will have to use a deduction.
The deduction is provided only once a year, so if a person makes several transactions at once in one year, then the opportunity is applied to reduce the tax base only for one apartment.
Additionally, when buying a home, you can count on a tax refund. It is calculated on the basis of expenses:
- the amount for which the apartment was purchased;
- construction costs of the facility;
- purchase of land on which the house was built;
- repayment of credit interest if a mortgage loan was issued for the purchase of a home.
The maximum property deduction is provided in the amount of 260 rubles. from the purchase or construction price, as well as for mortgage interest, you can return up to 390 thousand rubles.
How is the calculation of the cadastral price of the property?
Many people do not know about innovations in the law, so they try to reduce the tax base by selling real estate at a low cost. They agree with customers so that the amount indicated in the contract does not exceed 1 million rubles. When using the deduction, it turns out that the tax base is represented by a negative value.
But now the tax authorities in this situation use not only the indicator indicated in the contract of sale, but also the cadastral price to determine the tax on the sale of an apartment. The law indicates that if the cadastral value exceeds the value available in the document, then the calculation of the fee is carried out on it.
For example, a citizen purchased an apartment for 1.5 million rubles. Its cadastral price is 1.3 million rubles. After a year of ownership, a person decides to sell the property for 1.6 million rubles. He agrees with the buyer so that the contract indicates the amount of 900 thousand rubles. During the calculation of the tax, employees of the Federal Tax Service take into account the cadastral price of the property, since it is higher than the sale price. In this case, when using the deduction, the tax amount will be equal to: (1.3 - 1) x 13% = 39 thousand rubles.
Nuances of making a declaration
If a person owns real estate for less than the due period, then he must not only calculate and pay the fee, but also draw up and submit a declaration to the Federal Tax Service. It is not required to generate this document in situations:
- the apartment is not for sale, but is exchanged or given to another person, since the object is transferred free of charge or without receiving an additional payment, therefore the citizen simply does not have income from which tax could be calculated;
- the sold object has been owned by a person for more than three or five years, depending on how it was obtained into ownership.
In other situations, it is important not only to pay tax, but also to submit a declaration. This is necessary only if the tax base is positive.
It is important to understand not only whether citizens pay the tax on the sale of an apartment, but also how the declaration is formed. The rules for its preparation include:
- the period for which the document is formed is indicated;
- personal information about the taxpayer is registered;
- data are entered on how the apartment was received, how much time it was at the disposal of the citizen, at what price it was bought and sold;
- information about the deduction applied;
- tax calculation rules are provided.
Based on the information from the declaration, a fee is paid.
How is the declaration filed?
The document is submitted to the Federal Tax Service in various ways:
- a visit to the department of the Federal Tax Service to hand over the document to a specialist, after which a notification and receipt of tax are provided;
- sending documentation by mail;
- Internet using;
- the use of the assistance of an intermediary who must have a notarized power of attorney.
It is not necessary to draw up a document if, as a result of the calculation, it turns out that there is no need to pay tax. This includes cases where after using the deduction, a negative value of the tax base is obtained, since this fact should not be proved by the taxpayer on the basis of Art. 229 Tax Code. It indicates that if income is not taxable, it may not be indicated by taxpayers.
Responsibility for non-payment of the fee
If a taxpayer is mistaken or simply does not purposefully pay personal income tax after the sale of an apartment, then this leads to the fact that a citizen is brought to administrative or criminal liability.
The measure of responsibility depends on the severity of the crime and the amount of tax. Therefore, a fine of up to 100 thousand rubles may be imposed. or even imprisonment of up to three years. Therefore, it is necessary to file a declaration in a timely manner before April 30, and also pay the fee until July 15. If there are no funds on the 16th day, then a 5% penalty is charged for each month of delay, so after six months you will have to pay not only the tax, but also 30% of it. The minimum level of such a fine is 1 thousand rubles.
Thus, everyone should know what taxes should be paid when selling / buying an apartment in order to timely contribute to the budget. This will avoid a significant measure of responsibility for serious violations. In this case, you should understand the terms of ownership, the possibility of using a deduction and other nuances of calculation.