Property taxes in 2021 on sales and donations

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Any income received by an individual from real estate manipulation is taxable. In 2021, unnecessary selling expenses can be avoided, but only under certain conditions.

Types of property taxes

The obligation to pay tax is imposed on all owners of real estate, regardless of its purpose. The amount of payment for individuals when buying and selling objects is calculated according to the scheme specified in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The tax must be paid by individuals - owners of houses, apartments, country houses, garages, parking lots, commercial premises and other erected objects, the list of which is also regulated by the specified regulatory legal act.

Property tax

In 2021, real estate tax is calculated according to a new scheme that provides for the use of cadastral, rather than inventory, value, as it was before. At the same time, in the first three years, personal income tax is calculated taking into account the decreasing coefficients, and at the end of the specified period - at the full cadastral value.

The only limiting factor is last year's value. The new tax cannot exceed it by more than 10%. In this regard, experts recommend clarifying how much the property is valued at in 2021, because the level of the owner's expenses depends on this factor.

Donated property tax

According to the amendments to the Tax Code, in 2021, a citizen who received real estate as a gift is obliged to pay personal income tax on income equal to the cadastral value of the acquired property. This takes into account the value set at the beginning of the year when the new owner registered the ownership.

If a part of immovable property is transferred to a natural person during donation, the calculation of income is made in accordance with the cadastral value of this share. When receiving real estate as a gift, a citizen must submit a declaration to the Federal Tax Service and pay tax.

The rule does not apply to property donated by family members: grandparents, sisters and brothers, spouses, parents and children. In this case, it is necessary to document the fact of kinship, and then all claims for the payment of personal income tax will be withdrawn. Family members are citizens who have a common household and are related.

In some cases, other relatives who are not close can be exempted from the tax. For example, nephew and uncle, stepdaughter and stepfather. The main requirement in this case is a documented fact of running a joint household and living in one apartment (house, room).

Sales tax

The obligation to pay personal income tax arises for individuals only if the object is put up for sale in 2021 and before the expiration of five years from the date of registration of a citizen as an owner. Moreover, if the object is the only residence for the owner, he is exempt from tax after three years of ownership of the property.

The only housing is:

1. An apartment (house, room) or a share in it, after the sale of which the citizen has no other housing left in his ownership.
2. Real estate, after the sale of which the owner has square meters, but their acquisition took place no earlier than 90 days before the registration of the ownership of the apartment by the new owner.

The amount of tax can be calculated in one of the following ways:

• tax is levied as a percentage of the cadastral value (70%) established on January 1 of the year in which the transaction is made;
• the tax base is set depending on the sales value of the property as indicated in the purchase and sale agreement.

In this case, the larger value is used for the calculation.

How to reduce real estate tax on a sale

The innovations also affected the procedure for the sale of real estate donated to the seller earlier. In this case, the seller can reduce the tax base by the amount:

• expenses incurred by the donor in the process of acquiring this property, if he did not previously declare these expenses in order to return income tax for the acquisition of real estate;
• tax payment that was made to the Federal Tax Service upon receipt of the property as a gift (if the donee and the donor are not close relatives);
• property tax deduction for real estate sellers.

In order to reduce income, you can use only one of the indicated methods. For example, if a tax deduction was used, you should not count on a reduction in personal income tax at the expense of the costs incurred by the donor when buying a home.

The privilege also applies to that property, which at the time of the transaction was the only housing. If the specified exceptions cannot be applied, the property deduction is used only in relation to the apartment, the title to which arose at least five years ago.

If the period of ownership of the object is below the designated limit, the seller can apply for a tax deduction (1 million rubles).

When two transactions are made simultaneously (sale of an old apartment and purchase of a new one), instead of a deduction, another basis is used to reduce the taxable base: from the amount received from the sale, the costs of acquiring a new home are deducted.

If the purchased object is more expensive than the sold real estate, the difference is compensated for by the personal tax charged on other grounds. In this case, the law sets a limit of 2 million rubles. If a mortgage loan is issued, the amount of the limit is increased to 3 million rubles.

Changes in tax legislation

From January 1, 2021, a progressive taxation scale is being introduced in Russia, according to which an increased personal income tax rate of 15% is introduced for individuals with an annual income of more than 5 million rubles.

The innovations will affect not only those who earn a lot, but also ordinary citizens, since the same rate applies to owners of real estate in the event of its sale. In this case, the amount of the transaction must be at least 5 million rubles.

The owner is obliged to pay tax on the sale of an object if no more than three years have passed between two events (donation and sale). In this case, the real estate must pass into ownership on the following grounds:

• by inheritance (the period is calculated from the moment of death of the testator);
• under a donation agreement (from a close relative);
• under an annuity agreement (lifelong maintenance);
• if the apartment is privatized after January 1, 2016;
• if at the time of implementation this object is the only housing.

After the expiration of the designated period, the owner is exempted from paying personal income tax, so there is no need for tax deductions. In all other cases, sales tax is not levied, provided that the property is sold after five years from the date of its purchase.

An important change is that now non-residents of the country who have property on the territory of the Russian Federation are also exempted from paying taxes after five years of owning real estate. Previously, they were required to pay personal income tax, even if they owned the apartment for more than 10 years.

Summarize

1. Tax is levied only on real estate that is sold before the expiration of the period specified by law.
2. The legislation of the Russian Federation provides for several options for reducing the tax base, subject to certain conditions.
3. Non-residents are also exempt from paying taxes on a general basis.

A source:

journal.tinkoff.ru