Tax on the sale of an apartment: features, calculation of the amount and requirements

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The sale of an apartment may be needed for various reasons, but at the same time, each person 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 must be levied. But at the same time, there are certain conditions under which there is no need to transfer tax. Each seller must figure out how long it takes to own an apartment so that after selling it there is no need to pay a fee. Additionally, the possibility of using a deduction to reduce the tax base is taken into account.

How much is taxed?

First of all, you need to figure out what the fee is. Each owner who has sold real estate or part of it should know what tax is subject to the sale of an apartment, and whether he is required to pay this fee.

The calculation uses the amount specified in the contract drawn up for the sale of the object. It is not uncommon for sellers to ask buyers for a lower amount to be specified in this agreement,which will allow them to avoid paying tax when using the deduction. This led to the need to amend the law, so now not only the sale price is taken into account, but also the cadastral value of the object. If it is higher than the value that is available in the contract, then it is at the cadastral price that the amount of tax is calculated.

Such changes are justified by the fact that it is necessary to reduce the number of fraudulent transactions, the main purpose of which is tax evasion. Further 13% is charged from the revealed amount. The tax base may decrease when using the deduction.

Legislative regulation

The requirement to pay tax on income received from the sale of real estate is regulated by different regulations. These include Art. 117 and Art. 220 of the Tax Code, as well as Federal Law No. 382.

Documents specify whether sales tax is due on the sale of an apartment, how the fee is determined, and under what circumstances sellers are exempt from the process.

When is tax not paid?

There are certain conditions under which people who sell real estate do not have to pay tax on their income. Tax after the sale of an apartment is not paid (for various reasons) only if there is evidence of these circumstances. You do not need to calculate and pay the fee in situations:

• after the purchase, the seller owned the apartment for more than five years;
• after receiving housing by inheritance, as a result of drawing upgift or by court decision, you need to wait 3 years, so that later you can sell the object with tax exemption;
• if the apartment was sold at a lower price than its purchase price, as it is necessary to pay tax on income, but you will have to officially prove that the seller really did not make a profit, for which contracts for the purchase and sale of housing are used;
• Real estate value is less than RUB 1 million, as each seller of a property can take advantage of a RUB 1 million deduction, and it is by this amount that the tax base is reduced, therefore, with a low price of housing, you do not need to pay a fee.

Unreasonable undervaluation of the cost of housing 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 object.

When should funds be transferred?

Fee due next year. Therefore, if the apartment is sold in 2017, and at the same time it becomes necessary to calculate and transfer the fee, then it must be transferred to the budget before July 15, 2018.

If there are delays, fines are charged that significantly increase the total amount that must be transferred to the budget.

How long does it take 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,that they are not held accountable for violations. The basic rules include:

• if the property was bought after 2016, then you have 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, housing was received by inheritance or donated on the basis of a correctly drawn up donation, then it can be sold without tax in three year.

Tax on the sale of an apartment owned less than 3 years will have to be paid without fail. In this case, the countdown begins from the moment when a citizen receives a document confirming his right to real estate. For example, if an object is bought on the basis of share contributions, then the countdown must be carried out from the moment when the last payment is made.

Do I need to pay tax on donated or inherited housing? yes, if less than three years of use of such property have passed and you want to sell it. Let's say you own an apartment for 3 years. In this case, the sales tax will not have to be calculated and transferred, but at the same time, it is necessary to submit to the Federal Tax Service evidence that more than three or five years have indeed passed.

Can I lower the price?

Every person who sells real estate wants to avoid taxation. Many people prefer not to pay tax on the sale of an apartment on the grounds that they deliberately underestimate the salesthe price of the object, so when using the deduction, there is either no tax at all, or it has a small amount.

This method has not been used since 2016. This is due to the fact that before calculating the fee, the employees of the Federal Tax Service compare two indicators represented by the sale price and the cadastral value of the object. The calculation is based on the amount that will be greater. Therefore, avoiding taxation in this way will not work. 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 not to pay tax when owning an apartment for less than 5 years?

There are certain possibilities that allow you to actually not pay this fee, even if the apartment has been owned by a person for less than five years. Tax on the sale of an apartment is not paid under the following conditions and situations:

• purchased property before 2016, so it is still subject to the condition that you have to wait three, not five years, to be able to sell it without paying a fee;
• the apartment was received as a gift or inheritance, so no funds were paid for it by a citizen, which leads to the fact that it is enough to own the object for only 3 years, then to sell it and not pay tax;
• the seller can prove that he did not make a profit in two transactions within three years, so 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 does not was below the cadastr althe cost of the apartment;
• transactions are made in relation to inexpensive housing, so its cadastral and sale price is below 1 million rubles, which leads to the fact that due to the use of the deduction, the tax base is completely negative.

All of the above conditions must be proved by a citizen using official papers, therefore, it is required to submit the relevant documentation to the Federal Tax Service.

Nuances of selling an apartment received by inheritance

If a citizen receives property by inheritance, then he has to pay a state duty, depending on the value of the object, as well as to deal with a long registration of an apartment. In addition, for its registration in the property, you need to pay a fee of 2 thousand rubles. Often, after registration, a person has a desire to sell the object. It should be borne in mind that under such conditions, the tax on the sale of an apartment inherited will have to be paid.

Some factors should be assessed first:

• it is determined what the size of the cadastral value of the property is, since this is the indicator that will be used to calculate the tax if the apartment is sold at a lower price;
• 1 million rubles is deducted from the amount received, represented by the deduction;
• calculated from this value of 13% to determine what amount will have to be paid to the budget, since if it is too large, it is often advisable to wait three years in order to then sell the object without tax.

The cadastral value has not yet been calculated for all apartments. This is due to the fact that it is determined only by a special commission consisting of qualified employees of the BTI, therefore, often this indicator has not yet been determined for a specific object. In this case, the heir will have to order such an assessment on his own, which incurs additional costs.

What is the suggested deduction?

Any person 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 amount of tax on the sale of the apartment will be paid in this case?

For example, an apartment was sold for 3.4 million rubles, and this amount is higher than the cadastral value of the object. The transaction was made within a year after the property was purchased. Do I need to pay tax on the sale of an apartment in this case? Since three or five years have not yet passed after real estate registration, the fee must be correctly calculated and transferred.

Initially, the tax base is calculated, for which the sale price is reduced by the amount of the deduction: 3.4 - 1=2.4 million rubles. Further, a 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 object initially. This evidence can be provided by documents:

• payment transfers, on the basis of which the funds were transferred toanother account, so the procedure for purchasing the object was completely carried out through the bank;
• receipt indicating the transfer of funds;
• Act of acceptance and transfer of an object indicating the price of this property;
• fiscal checks that can confirm not only the purchase of housing, but also its finishing.

Only after the preparation of evidence, you can use the deduction.

When is it appropriate to opt out of the deduction?

The home seller can decide whether the sale price will be reduced by the amount 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 the 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 the deduction in order to reduce the tax on the sale of the apartment. The new law indicates that if it is not possible to confirm the purchase price of an 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 to reduce the tax base for only one apartment applies.

Additionally, when buying a home, you can count on a tax refund. It is calculated based onspending:

• the amount for which the apartment was bought;
• expenses for the construction of the facility;
• buying the land on which the house was built;
• repayment of loan interest, if a mortgage loan was issued for the purchase of housing.

Maximum property deduction is provided in the amount of 260 rubles. up to 390 thousand rubles can be returned from the purchase or construction price, as well as for mortgage interest.

How is the cadastral price of an object calculated?

Many people do not know about the innovations in the legislation, so they are trying to reduce the tax base by selling real estate at a low cost. They negotiate with buyers so that the contract contains an amount not exceeding 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 such a situation use not only the indicator that is indicated in the sales contract, 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 fee is calculated on it.

For example, a citizen bought 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 object for 1.6 million rubles. He agrees with the buyer that the contract should indicate the amount of 900 thousand rubles. When calculating the tax, the employees of the Federal Tax Service take into account the cadastral price of the object, since it is higher than the sale price. In this case, when using the deduction, the sizetax will be equal to: (1, 3 - 1) x 13%=39 thousand rubles.

Nuances of drawing up a declaration

If a person owns real estate less than the due date, 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 donated to another person, as the object is transferred free of charge or without receiving an additional payment, so the citizen simply does not have income from which tax could be calculated;
• the object being sold belonged to a person for more than three or five years, depending on how it was acquired.

In other situations, it is important not only to pay tax, but also to submit a declaration. This is only necessary if the tax base is positive.

It is important to understand not only whether citizens pay tax on the sale of an apartment, but also how the declaration is formed. The rules for its compilation include:

• indicate the period for which the document is generated;
• personal information about the taxpayer is registered;
• data are entered on how the apartment was received, how long it was at the disposal of the citizen, for what price it was bought and sold;
• enter information about the applicable deduction;
• provide tax calculation rules.

Based on the information from the declaration, a fee is paid.

How is the declaration filed?

The document is presented inFTS in different ways:

• visiting the office of the Federal Tax Service to submit the document to a specialist, after which a notification and a tax receipt are provided;
• sending documentation by mail;
• internet use;
• using the help of an intermediary who must have a notarized power of attorney.

You do not need to draw up a document if the result of the calculation is that you do not need to pay tax. This includes cases when, after using the deduction, a negative value of the tax base is obtained, since this fact does not have to be proved by the taxpayer on the basis of Art. 229 NK. It states that if income is not taxable, then it may not be reported by taxpayers.

Responsibility for failure to pay the fee

If the taxpayer makes a mistake or simply purposefully does not pay personal income tax after the sale of the apartment, this leads to the fact that the citizen is brought to administrative or criminal liability.

The measure of liability depends on the severity of the crime and the amount of the tax. Therefore, a fine of up to 100 thousand rubles can be imposed. or even imprisonment for up to three years. Therefore, it is necessary to file a declaration in a timely manner before April 30, and also pay the fee before July 15. If there are no funds on the 16th, then a 5% pen alty is charged for each month of delay, so in 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, each person shouldknow what taxes you need to pay when selling / buying an apartment in order to make timely contributions to the budget. This will avoid significant liability for serious violations. At the same time, you should understand the terms of ownership, the possibility of using the deduction and other nuances of the calculation.