Today you can use one of the legal grounds and not pay taxes on cars. How to avoid the annual payment of duty for his four-wheeled iron "horse"?
In the calculation of the transport tax there is a certain meaning: by contributing considerable amounts to the budget, motorists allegedly compensate for the wear of the road surface. At first glance, the calculation may seem fair, but the quality of roads in the country, despite annual revenues to the treasury, is not improving. Highways, highways and city roads are still in poor condition. In addition, the Russian government introduced fuel excises, which already include transport fees. Hence the logical question is whether it is necessary to pay a tax on cars twice.
What does the Tax Code of the Russian Federation say?
Every citizen who has purchased a new or used car is required to pay a fee to the local budget annually. Tax periods are counted from the moment of registration on the vehicle registration with the traffic police. To understand whether you need to pay a tax on a car, you should familiarize yourself with Chapter 28 of the Tax Code (Articles 356-363). It follows from the Tax Code that every owner of a vehicle is obligated to make annual fees, regardless of whether his car is in good condition, whether it exists in reality, is disassembled for parts, is constantly operated by the owner or is in the garage.
How to calculate the annual payment
The amount of duty in Russia depends on several criteria:
- car engine power;
- market value of a car;
- region in which the vehicle is registered;
- the presence or absence of taxpayer privileges.
The amount of the payment is set by the municipalities, so even in neighboring regions the tax on the same car may vary. To find out how much tax is paid for a car, you need:
- determine the tax base based on the amount of horsepower or engine size (this information is indicated in the vehicle certificate);
- apply the appropriate rate for calculating the payment (it can be found on the website of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation, indicating the region of registration of the car);
- determine the tax period (if the vehicle is not owned by the taxpayer from the beginning of the reporting year, then the duty is calculated by the number of months of direct ownership);
- apply a benefit that reduces the amount of the fee, or increases the coefficient if the car is classified as luxury and costs more than three million rubles.
To get the exact amount of the tax charge, you must multiply the tax rate applicable in the region by the engine power indicator, expressed in horsepower. Then the result obtained is multiplied by the increasing coefficient and the period of car ownership.
Every citizen of the Russian Federation must pay a car tax. This fee is mandatory for all Russians, and in case of delay or non-payment to the taxpayer fines and penalties will be charged.
Grounds for non-payment
There are several legal ways to not pay car taxes. As a rule, this applies to citizens who, for various reasons, were unable to register a vehicle with MREO or to deregister it. A citizen also has the right not to pay an annual fee if his car is stolen or stolen, while the very fact of theft was recorded by law enforcement agencies. After the declaration of theft, the tax ceases to be charged.
Think about how not to pay taxes on cars, and should be if the passport of the vehicle contains incorrect information. In this situation, the owner of the car should be informed of the discrepancy to the tax inspectorate at the place of residence or file a lawsuit with the court.
The Russians who are engaged in private entrepreneurial activity, the state has granted a number of preferences, including in the field of taxation. For example, individuals using private cars in work are exempted from paying transport tax.
Preferential category of taxpayers
In our country, they take care of socially vulnerable groups of the population. For example, large families, veterans of the Great Patriotic War, Heroes of the USSR and the Russian Federation, disabled people with disabilities do not pay tax on cars, and other categories of citizens are given a significant discount on annual payments. These include:
- parents or legal representatives of a disabled child;
- family members of military personnel who died in the performance of military duty;
- persons of working age;
- citizens affected by the Chernobyl accident.
In regions, the list of beneficiaries can be supplemented by other categories. At the same time, local authorities usually establish a number of conditions for those who may not pay taxes on cars, as, for example, in the Kemerovo region. Here, pensioners and people with disabilities of the third group are exempted from this duty, but on condition that the car is the only one in ownership and its engine power does not exceed 250 liters. from.
Which vehicles are tax-free
Article 358 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation presents a variety of equipment for which you do not need to pay an annual fee. Among them are rowing boats, sea and river fishing vessels. There is also no need to pay an annual fee to persons with disabilities. Do people with disabilities pay tax on cars? An affirmative answer can only be given if it comes to small cars with a capacity of not more than 100 liters. from. Car owners who transport people with disabilities are also exempt from paying the duty.
One way to save on annual taxes is to constructively change the engine by reducing power and modifying the electronic control of the car. To carry out such technical manipulations will require the permission of the traffic police. Once it is received, you can contact the service station. However, it must be borne in mind that the cost of such an operation is several tens of thousands of rubles, so changing the engine power is not always a reasonable solution.
If the engine power of the machine does not exceed 70 horsepower, you do not need to pay a tax for it. The information specified in the TCP is taken into account. The owner of the car, which is registered for the company under a lease agreement, is also exempted from paying the annual fee. However, in this case, the transport tax is often included in lease payments along with interest.
Taxes are not paid for agricultural machinery, including milk tankers, tractors, cattle trucks, and machinery involved in road repair work. Since 2015, heavy trucks have joined this list, regardless of who owns them - a legal entity or an individual. We are talking about cars weighing 12 tons or more. Such cars are included in a specialized register as vehicles that cause damage to roads, so their owners pay fixed amounts in excess of the standard vehicle tax.
Where to pay and how to save
As noted, the size of the transport fee depends on the region of residence of the owner. Today, Muscovites pay the highest taxes - the average rate is 35 rubles. In the Yaroslavl region, the same indicator is 28 rubles, in Voronezh - 20 rubles, in Kemerovo - 14 rubles, and in Chukotka - 7 rubles.
Due to the difference in tax rates, some car owners go to the trick and register the car in the traffic police not in the region where they live permanently, but in the place where the tax rate is lower. However, such a way to save is not always effective.
Current legislation does not prohibit citizens from registering vehicles in any region of Russia, without reference to their place of residence. Moreover, the data on the new owner is still sent to the IFTS at the place of permanent residence of the latter. Based on this, the tax is calculated at the rate established in the region of residence of the owner, and not the registration of the car.
Luxury Car: Avoiding Taxes
Owners of expensive cars can also try to reduce the amount of payment to the state treasury. The luxury car tax is calculated using a different formula, using a multiplying factor. This category includes vehicles whose value exceeds 3 million rubles.
When calculating the duty, tax officials take into account the make and year of manufacture of the machine. Since 2015, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation has published a list of expensive cars for which higher tax rates apply. This list contains several hundred models. For example, one of them is Ford Explorer Sport (2016) with a motor power of 345 liters. from. The annual tax for such a car will be about 55-60 thousand rubles, but this is not the limit. For some models such as BMW M6, Rolls-Royce Dawn or Bentley Flying Spur, the maximum coefficient is applied, so the duty on such cars can reach 200-300 thousand rubles.
When calculating the duty does not take into account the technical condition of the car and its price by agreement of sale between private individuals. If the car was sold at a lower cost or participated in a serious accident, but is listed, the tax on it is still calculated with a higher coefficient. Sometimes, officials include models that have not been produced for a long time on this list.
Given the stability of inflation, experts predict the inevitable increase in the cost of luxury vehicles, and with them the current ratios. To reduce the tax on expensive cars, customers are advised to use the following methods:
- Choose a model that is not on the list published by the ministry. Despite the absence of this car in the ministerial list, this does not mean that by the time of the next publication this model will not appear there.
- Buy a car older than the model you like, or in a different configuration, with a less powerful engine.
- When registering a car with the traffic police, the owner should indicate a relative who belongs to the preferential category of taxpayers. It should not be forgotten that the preference applies to cars with an engine power of not more than 100-150 liters. from. - This is the average threshold for beneficiaries in the Russian regions. The fee is calculated for each horsepower in excess of the limit.
Before buying a luxury car, it is advisable to pre-calculate the amount of tax and include it in the annual budget of the family.
Accrual of annual fee in case of car sale
When changing the owner of the vehicle, the car is re-registered. As long as the previous owner is listed in the traffic police bases as the owner of the sold car, a transport tax will be charged in his name. If the new owner of the car is in no hurry to go through the registration procedure, the previous owner can protect himself from unnecessary expenses. In order not to continue to receive payments from the tax inspectorate, you yourself must come to the traffic police with a contract of sale and write a statement in the form that the inspector will give. Information about the change of ownership of the traffic police will transmit to the Federal Tax Service. After that, the car will no longer be registered as a citizen.
Auto sales tax: is it mandatory to pay?
Contributions must be made not only for objects of the contract of sale, but also for property received as a gift, by inheritance or as a lottery prize. Do I have to pay tax on the sale of cars? Yes, but not in all cases.
Regardless of the grounds on which the car became property, the owner must have documents confirming the legality of the acquisition and an act of appraised value of the car. By the way, the choice of tax rate depends on the last paper.
Before calculating the amount of the fee, you should make sure for sure whether to pay tax on the sale of cars in a particular case. If, nevertheless, the car is subject to taxation requirements, it is advisable for the seller to take care of filling out the 3-NDFL declaration in advance. The question of whether to pay tax on a sold car should not arise if the car was owned by the seller for less than three years. In this case, even the car that was purchased at the expense of credit funds is taxed.
As a rule, a transaction between two citizens (seller and buyer) is carried out at a private level. Despite the absence of a fiscal check, the seller must draw up a declaration and pay income tax in the amount of 13% of the value of movable property in excess of 250 thousand rubles. At the same time, there are several conditions under which a citizen is exempted from paying a fee. You need to learn about them in advance so as not to break the law and competently sell the car.
What taxes should be paid if, for example, the car has been owned by the seller for more than three years? None. The previous owner of the car may not pay tax on a car purchase and sale transaction in 2018 if he has owned it since 2014. A car that is sold at a price lower than the initial cost, that is, in the absence of profit from the transaction, is exempted from taxation. When selling a car, you need to pay tax only when its value exceeds 250 thousand rubles. At least one of these conditions is sufficient for the former owner to receive a tax benefit.
How to calculate correctly
The duty is paid if the cost of the car exceeds 250 thousand rubles. If the car price is lower, a zero rate applies. To date, two methods are used to calculate tax when selling a car :
- The first is costly. It is assumed that prices and expenses are taken into account when buying. From the initial cost of the car, at which the current owner purchased it, the requested price is taken away. The resulting difference is subject to income tax of 13%.
- The second is a subtraction method. If the initial sales contract is lost, 250 thousand are taken from the price set by the seller and the difference is multiplied by 13%. The amount received is the amount of income tax from the sale of a car.
We give an example of calculating the duty for both schemes. The car was purchased from a private person in 2016 for 500 thousand rubles. After a year and a half, the owner put it up for sale for 570 thousand rubles. The difference in cost is 70 thousand rubles. Multiplying it by 0.13, you get 9100 rubles. This amount must be paid after the transaction as income tax.
Using the deduction method to calculate the tax, you get the amount of 41,600 rubles. ((570 thousand - 250 thousand) x 13%). The cost method is more profitable, however, it is not universal. It can be used only once during a calendar year, so this option is not suitable for those who resell cars.
Vehicle rental income taxation
The rate for calculating the duty on renting a car (which taxes to pay should be known to every owner who plans to earn by providing his own transport for use by others) depends on the terms of the rental agreement. For individual entrepreneurs, the amount of tax is determined by the current tax system. For example, for entrepreneurs who apply the simplified tax regime, the rate is 6%. For individuals who receive income from the transfer of property for temporary use to other persons, the duty is calculated at a standard rate of 13%.
Vehicle rental happens with or without crew. In the first case, the obligation to maintain the car rests solely with the lessor, in the second - with the lessee. The amount of tax does not depend on the type of lease and is paid according to the above scheme.
Annual Tax Payment Schedule
When do I need to pay a car tax? This issue is of concern to most taxpayers. In order not to violate tax discipline, payment of the transport duty must be made before December 1 in the year that follows the reporting one. Thus, before December 1, 2018, payment for 2017 is required. The region of residence of the car owner does not matter.
For legal entities there is no clear rule on how much to pay a tax on cars. All organizations pay a fee on an individual schedule, in different periods. This is explained by the fact that for companies, the deadlines are set by municipalities based on the scope of activity. 1 , , .