How to get a tax deduction when buying an apartment?

Step 1. Documents for deductions when buying an apartment Step 2. Filling out the 3-NDFL declaration Step 3. Sending documents to the tax authority Step 4. Verification of documents by the tax office Step 5. Crediting money to your account How to certify documents to receive a deduction

A tax deduction when purchasing an apartment, house, or land plot (clause 1 of Article 220 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) can be obtained in two ways:

1. Through the employer. In this case, you bring a notice from the tax office, and the company’s accounting department does not withhold income tax from your salary. This happens until the amount of overpaid personal income tax is exhausted.
2. Through the tax office. Let's take a step-by-step look at how to do this.

Watch the video in which we talk in detail about what a tax deduction is when buying an apartment, who is entitled to the deduction, what documents need to be prepared and how they can be submitted to the tax office.

How to calculate the property deduction and how much personal income tax will be returned to the account - in examples and explanations from experts of the online service NDFLka.ru.

What is a property tax deduction?

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, when purchasing an apartment, house or land, you can return part of the money in the amount of personal income tax paid in the past.
The tax deduction is described in Art. 220 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The benefit is aimed at providing citizens with the opportunity to purchase or improve housing conditions. If you officially work, pay personal income tax and purchased an apartment or house, you have the right to return up to 13% of the cost of housing.
In addition, you can also get back up to 13% on mortgage interest and some other costs.

How long to wait for money?

The timing and procedure for returning funds depend on the method of receiving them chosen by the citizen. He is offered two options:

Table 1. Methods for obtaining deductions

Video - Property deduction 2017

In what cases can you get a property deduction?

By taking advantage of the property deduction, you can return part of the expenses for:

• acquisition and construction of housing (apartment, private house, room, their shares);
• acquisition of a land plot with a residential building located on it or for the construction of a residential building;
• interest on targeted loans ( mortgage loans ) for the construction or purchase of housing;
• finishing of housing, if it was purchased from the developer without finishing.

Deduction is NOT provided :

• when purchasing real estate from dependent persons: spouse, children, parents, brothers/sisters, employer, etc.;
• if a person has already exhausted his right to property deduction (see One-time deduction).

Restrictions on receiving interest deduction

The following restrictions apply:

• you can get 13 percent only on those interest charges that are actually paid, and not in full on the entire amount;
• the loan must be targeted, that is, it must be issued for the purchase of housing, and not for consumer use;
• You can apply for a loan refund only once and only for one object. It is not possible to receive the remainder as with the main deduction.

Tax deduction amount

The amount of tax you can get back is determined by two main parameters: your expenses when buying a home and the income tax you paid.

1. In the total amount, you can return up to 13% of the cost of housing or land, but the maximum amount for deduction should not exceed 2 million rubles (that is, you can return a maximum of 2 million rubles x 13% = 260 thousand rubles). Note: for housing purchased before 2008, the maximum deduction amount is 1 million rubles.
2. For each year, you can return no more than you transferred to the personal income tax budget (about 13% of the official salary). At the same time, you can return the tax over several years until you return the entire amount (see When and for what period can you get a tax deduction?)
3. In case of purchasing housing with a mortgage before January 1, 2014, income tax on expenses for paying mortgage interest is refunded in full without restrictions.
4. If the housing was purchased with mortgage funds after January 1, 2014, then the interest deduction is limited to 3 million rubles (that is, you can return a maximum of 3 million rubles from mortgage interest x 13% = 390 thousand rubles. ).
   When purchasing expensive housing, there are situations when the amount returned on mortgage interest exceeds the return on the direct purchase of housing. Please note: the limit on the amount of return for the main property deduction for one person is 260 thousand rubles, the deduction for credit interest is 390 thousand rubles. If an apartment was purchased after 01/01/2014 by married spouses, each spouse can receive a property deduction in the amount of these limits. You can find out more about this information in the article: Peculiarities of obtaining a property deduction when buying a home by spouses.

Example 1: In 2021, Ivanov A.A. I bought an apartment for 2.5 million rubles. At the same time, in 2021 he earned 500 thousand rubles and paid 65 thousand rubles in personal income tax. In this case, the maximum amount that Ivanov A.A. will be able to return it is 2 million x 13% = 260 thousand rubles. But directly for 2021, he will be able to receive only 65 thousand rubles, and 195 thousand will remain for return in subsequent years.

Example 2: In 2021 Vasiliev V.G. bought an apartment for 1 million rubles. In 2021 Vasiliev V.G. I learned about the possibility of a tax deduction and decided to apply for it. In total, Vasiliev can return 1 million rubles. x 13% = 130 thousand rubles. If we consider that Vasiliev earned 400 thousand rubles annually in 2018-2020 and paid 52 thousand rubles in personal income tax, then in 2021 he will be able to return: 52 thousand rubles. for 2021, 52 thousand rubles. for 2021 and 26 thousand rubles. (balance of 130 thousand) for 2021.

Additional and more complex (mortgage interest, shares, etc.) examples of deduction calculations can be found here: Examples of calculating property tax deductions.

Who has the right to return personal income tax?

The conditions under which you can return 13 percent are as follows:

• the buyer can only be a citizen of Russia, which means that he must reside in Russia for more than 183 days during the year;
• those wishing to make a tax refund in 2021 must have an official salary, from which personal income tax is withheld in the amount of 13%;
• the right to a tax deduction must not have been used previously.

Officially unemployed or unemployed citizens, as well as individual entrepreneurs who are under special tax regimes, will not be able to receive a deduction, just like persons who are not non-residents of the Russian Federation.

Officially unemployed citizens can also use a tax deduction if they contribute 13% of their income to the country's budget, received, for example, from rent, as well as other income.

One-time right to deduction

The Tax Code limits the possibility of multiple use of deductions when purchasing a home. At the same time, the restrictions were changed from January 1, 2014 (the changes are described in detail in our article Changes in the property deduction when purchasing a home in 2014).

Currently the restrictions apply as follows:

For housing purchased before January 1, 2014 , you can use the property deduction only once in your life (paragraph 27, paragraph 2, paragraph 1, article 220 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, the purchase price does not matter. Even if you took advantage of a deduction of 10 thousand rubles, you will never be able to receive a larger property deduction when purchasing a home.

Example: in 2013 Sakharov A.T. purchased an apartment for 1.5 million rubles and took advantage of the tax deduction after the purchase. In 2021 Sakharov A.T. bought an apartment again for 2 million rubles. He will not be able to receive a deduction of 500 thousand rubles up to 2 million.

When purchasing a home after January 1, 2014 (unless you took advantage of the deduction earlier), the property deduction can be used several times, but the maximum amount of the deduction that you can receive for your entire life (excluding mortgage interest) even in this case is strictly limited to 2 million rubles (260 thousand rubles to be returned).

Example: at the beginning of 2021 Gusev A.K. bought an apartment for 1.7 million rubles. In September 2021, he also purchased a room for 500 thousand rubles. At the end of 2021 (in 2021) Gusev A.K. will be able to apply for a deduction of 2 million rubles: 1.7 million rubles for an apartment and get 300 thousand rubles for a room.

Please note: If you received only a basic deduction for housing purchased before January 1, 2014, then you can receive a tax deduction on interest when purchasing a new home with a mortgage. You can read more about this opportunity in our article Repeated property deduction for mortgage interest

You can find out more information about the restrictions on receiving a property deduction in the article: One-time property deduction when purchasing an apartment/house.

Ways to get 13 percent back when buying an apartment

You can make a deduction in several ways:

1. Through the employer.
2. Directly to the Federal Tax Service by submitting documents in person or through State Services.

Let's consider both options in detail.

How to get 13 percent from the purchase of an apartment through an employer?

To return personal income tax through your employer, you don’t have to wait until the end of the tax period and receive the money in the year you purchase your home.

What is needed for this:

1. Submit an application to the Federal Tax Service at your place of residence to receive notification of the right to refund part of your taxes. It will be issued within 30 calendar days.
2. Receive the notification and submit it along with other documents to the accounting department at the place of employment.

After this, the employer will no longer withhold personal income tax from the salary within the amount of the deduction.

Contents and sample application

The application is filled out according to the recommended form KND 1150074, contained in Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 6, 2016 N BS-4-11/ [email protected]

What information does it contain:

1. Name of the tax authority.
2. Full name, tax identification number, registration address, contact phone number, passport details of the applicant.
3. Information about the employing organization.
4. The amount of expenses incurred to purchase a home. For a mortgage, interest costs.
5. Address of the purchased property.
6. List of attached documents.
7. Date of compilation, signature with transcript.

Sample application

Note! You can apply for a notice online through your taxpayer’s personal account.

Documentation

To receive notification of the right to payments, you must submit to the Federal Tax Service:

• Statement.
• Passport.
• An extract from the Unified State Register confirming ownership.
• Certificate 2-NDFL (optional, but desirable).
• Real estate purchase and sale agreement, transfer deed.
• Documents confirming expenses: receipt, bank account statement confirming the transfer of money to the seller.
• Mortgage agreement if housing is purchased with the help of a bank.
• Marriage certificate (if available).
• Agreement for participation in shared construction, if the apartment was purchased under it.
• Birth certificate of the child, if the housing is registered in his name.
• Application for distribution of deductions between spouses.

The Federal Tax Service will check the submitted documents and issue a notification. It must be submitted to the employer. He will not need a declaration or certificates: it is believed that the tax office has already verified the taxpayer’s right to a refund, and the accounting department can only prepare all the documents in-house and stop withholding personal income tax from the employee.

Sample agreement

How to return 13 percent when buying an apartment with a mortgage through State Services?

If you have a confirmed account on State Services or a qualified electronic signature, a refund of 13 percent is possible through your personal tax office.

Step by step everything looks like this:

1. Log in and go to the “Life Situations” section.
2. Click on “Submitting an application for tax deductions”, then click on “When purchasing real estate”.
3. Fill out the 3-NDFL declaration and send it for verification by uploading the remaining documents. If the return is issued for previous years, a separate declaration is drawn up for each year.
4. Wait for the results of the inspection of the declaration by the Federal Tax Service. This takes up to three months.

If the return is approved by the Federal Tax Service, personal income tax will no longer be withheld from the salary or the entire amount for past periods will be returned at once.

Documentation

You need to submit to the tax office:

• Passport.
• Declaration 3-NDFL.
• Certificate 2-NDFL for the year from the employer.
• Extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate.
• Contract of sale.
• Payment documents.
• Marriage certificate if the property was acquired as joint property of the spouses.

Note: these documents are downloaded electronically and sent along with the 3-NDFL declaration.

What documents are needed?

To apply for a tax deduction you will need:

• identification document;
• declaration 3-NDFL and application for tax refund;
• documents confirming your expenses;
• documents confirming the paid income tax (certificate 2-NDFL).

You can find a detailed list of documents here: Documents for property tax deduction.

Receipt procedure

There are two ways to get your income tax back:

1. Through the tax office.
2. Through the employer.

Receiving a deduction from the Federal Tax Service

If the deduction will be received from the Federal Tax Service, then after the end of the calendar year, it is necessary to prepare the necessary documents and draw up an application, as well as personal income tax reporting. Then submit the documents to the tax authorities, and after three to four months the money will be transferred to the account indicated in the application.

If the deduction is denied, such a decision can be challenged by submitting a complaint to the Federal Tax Service. If disputes are not resolved, then in court.

When do I need to submit documents and for what period can I get a tax refund?

You can return the money under the property deduction starting from the year in which you have in your hands:

• payment documents confirming expenses incurred for the purchase of an apartment/house/plot;
• documents confirming the ownership of housing : an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate (certificate of registration of ownership) when purchasing an apartment under a sale and purchase agreement or an Acceptance and Transfer Certificate when purchasing housing under an equity participation agreement.

If you bought an apartment in the past and did not apply for the deduction immediately, you can do it now (there are no restrictions on the timing of receiving the deduction). The only thing is that you can return income tax for no more than the last three years. For example, if you bought an apartment in 2021, and decided to apply for a deduction in 2021, you will be able to get your tax back for 2021, 2021 and 2021 (detailed information about when and for which years you can get your tax back can be found in our article : When and for what years should I apply for a property deduction when buying a home?

The entire balance of the property deduction is carried over to the next year. That is, you can return personal income tax over several years until you exhaust the entire amount (see Amount of tax deduction).

The entire procedure for obtaining a deduction usually takes from two to four months (most of the time is spent checking your documents by the tax office).

If you have not yet purchased a home, we recommend our partner’s site-guide, APARTMENT-Bez-AGENTA.ru. This is an educational site for those who want to understand the rules for buying and selling apartments.

Conditions of registration

To return 13 percent when purchasing real estate, a person must meet several requirements:

1. Be a tax resident and payer of personal income tax. A resident is a citizen who lives in the Russian Federation for at least 183 calendar days during the year.
2. You spent your own money or took out a mortgage to purchase a home. If real estate was purchased with a military mortgage, under a gift agreement or other gratuitous transaction, a refund is not provided, because the person does not bear the costs.
3. The seller is not a close relative of the taxpayer. Refunds are not provided if the seller and buyer are interdependent persons (clause 5 of Article 220 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). For example, if the transaction is concluded between a guardian and a ward, spouses, parents and children, full or half brothers or sisters.
4. The recipient can submit title documents for housing.
5. The limit has not been reached.
6. The housing is located in Russia.

There are also individual situations that are worth considering in detail.

If I'm not working

In Art. 220 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that property deductions are provided to taxpayers. Unemployed people do not pay 13% personal income tax, therefore, they cannot return part of the money when buying an apartment.

The apartment was purchased with a mortgage

If real estate is purchased with a mortgage, you can make several payments at once:

1. 13% from purchase, but not more than 260,000 rubles. Calculated from actual expenses incurred excluding interest.
2. 13% of the mortgage interest paid, but not more than RUB 390,000.

There is also a social tax deduction available to mortgage borrowers on the basis of paragraphs. 3 p. 1 art. 219 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. It is provided for mortgage life insurance, but not more than RUB 120,000. in year. If the cost of the policy exceeds 120,000 rubles, it will not be possible to transfer the balance to the next year.

Note: if the taxpayer received a refund for insurance, but later returned the insurance premium, the payments will have to be returned to the budget.

The apartment was purchased in cash

Everything is very simple here. The taxpayer has the right to return 13% of the actual expenses incurred, but not more than RUB 2,000,000.

Example. A man bought an apartment for RUR 1,500,000. in 2021. He is entitled to a payment of 195,000 rubles. In 2021, he purchased another home for 3,000,000 rubles, but the deduction is calculated from the balance - 500,000 rubles. Another 65,000 rubles were returned to him.

For individual entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs who pay personal income tax can return 13% when purchasing real estate. For example, using OSN. If UTII, PSN, Unified Agricultural Tax, or simplified tax system is applied, such tax is not paid, but persons paying personal income tax on additional income can take advantage of the deduction.

For example, a 13% refund is available for individual entrepreneurs who use the simplified tax system “income” and transfer 13% of personal income tax on income when renting out housing under a rental agreement.

Self-employed

Self-employed people pay professional income tax, not personal income tax, and deductions are not available to them.

For pensioners

According to paragraph 2 of Art. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, personal income tax is not withheld from pensions. Pensioners can receive payments when purchasing an apartment in several cases:

1. If you continue to officially work and pay taxes in retirement.
2. If personal income tax is paid from income: for example, from renting out an apartment.
3. If an apartment was purchased during retirement, you can return 13% for the year of purchase and the three years preceding retirement.

13 percent refund for children

Children in most cases are not payers of personal income tax and cannot claim deductions. But parents, having bought an apartment for a child, have the right to issue a return to themselves, even if the housing has been transferred into the ownership of their son or daughter.

It is important that the limit is not exhausted.

When purchasing an apartment under a shared participation agreement

To determine the amount of property deduction, you need to take into account the full cost of the DDU. When calculating, all actual expenses incurred by the payer are taken into account. Payments can be made annually as contributions are paid, or for the last three years at once.

When buying an apartment while married

If real estate is acquired during marriage, it becomes the common property of the spouses, unless otherwise established by the marriage contract (Article 34 of the RF IC). Husband and wife are provided with 2,000,000 rubles each. for everyone. Until 2014, this amount had to be distributed.

Thus, when buying a home, everyone can receive 260,000 rubles, and in total - 520,000 rubles.

When buying an apartment using maternity capital

If real estate was purchased using maternal capital, the deduction is calculated from expenses incurred from one’s own funds.

Example. The apartment was purchased for 2,000,000 rubles, of which 466,617 rubles. - maternal capital. In fact, the buyer spent 1,533,383 rubles, and the deduction is calculated from this amount. They will return 199,339.79 rubles, and another 60,660.21 rubles. the payer will be able to receive it if he purchases a second property.

Tax deduction for co-borrower

If a person acts as a co-borrower under a mortgage agreement and spends his money to repay the debt to the bank, he can also take advantage of the payments.

Several conditions are important:

1. Availability of ownership rights to a share in the apartment.
2. The borrower and co-borrower each pay their share of the mortgage and interest.

Note: the tax will not be returned if the owner is the borrower, but the co-borrower actually pays the mortgage; the loan is paid by the sole owner of the apartment, and the co-borrower is simply indicated in the agreement; the property is registered in shares, but the mortgage is paid by the main borrower. In the latter case, personal income tax can only be returned for your share.

Results

To apply for a deduction for a purchased apartment, you will need to collect a fairly extensive set of documents, the composition of which depends on the nuances of purchasing a home. It will need to be submitted to the Federal Tax Service either at the end of the tax period or before its end. In the 1st case, the tax will be returned by the Federal Tax Service, and in the 2nd it can be obtained directly from the employer based on confirmation of the right to deduction issued by the Federal Tax Service.

In practice, the period for returning a tax deduction when purchasing an apartment through an inspection takes about 4 months: 3 months are spent by the tax authorities to conduct a desk audit of the declaration and submitted documents, and another 1 month to refund the tax paid.

Sources: Tax Code of the Russian Federation

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Documents for processing a deduction if an apartment, house, land plot was purchased with a mortgage

In order to issue a property return on mortgage interest, in addition to the main list, you need to prepare the following documents:

Bank agreement for a mortgage loan . A certified copy is submitted. Bank certificate confirming the amount of interest paid . Original.

Be prepared that the tax office may request documents related to loan payments, for example, payment orders, checks, statements.

For a complete list of documents, see the article “Documents for obtaining a tax deduction for a mortgage, credit, home loan.”

In the article “Tax deduction when purchasing with a mortgage,” we examined in detail the procedure for obtaining a deduction.

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How to fill out a tax return?

To obtain the right to a property deduction, an individual taxpayer will need to fill out a tax return 3-NDFL. For the report for 2021, the form was approved by order of the Federal Tax Service dated August 28, 2020 No. ED-7-11/ [email protected]

5 pages of the reporting document must be completed: title page, sections 1 and 2, appendix 1 and appendix 7.

There should be no difficulties in filling out the title page, because it contains personal information about the individual and the tax authority to which the declaration will be submitted.

Features of filling out the declaration:

• Section 1 contains the final results of tax calculations: for reimbursement or additional payment.
• Section 2 shows the entire sequence of calculating the tax base and the final tax amount.
• Appendix 1 contains information about income from a certificate issued by the employer in Form 2-NDFL.
• Appendix 7 contains information about the purchased apartment, as well as the amount of property deduction.

If the declaration is filled out manually, then on the printed form the entered data should be aligned to the left. If the declaration is filled out using a computer program, then along the right edge. Double-sided printing is not permitted, and pages should not be stapled to avoid damaging the bar codes on the left.

Read more in the article “Filling out the 3-NDFL declaration for property deduction.”

In conclusion

We have reviewed the procedure for obtaining a property deduction in full, and, as you can see, it is not too complicated. In our country, benefits for the purchase of real estate have been in effect for several years, the scheme has been worked out and works for the benefit of citizens. Key points - you are a resident of the country and not only purchase a new apartment, but also become its owner by law. Then you can safely collect documents to soon enjoy your cash receipts.

Let us remind you that if you choose to return the entire amount through the tax office, the money should reach your wallet no later than four months after the application. In fact, a tidy sum will return to the family budget, which will never be superfluous.

It is also pleasant that the system of interaction between payers and the tax office is constantly being “polished”, making requests to the inspectorate faster and easier. Already now you can complete most of the necessary steps online. We recommend that you know and wisely use your own rights for your own benefit. Good luck!

Documents for obtaining a deduction if real estate was acquired as joint property by spouses

In addition to the main list:

Marriage certificate . A copy is submitted. Statement on distribution of shares . The original application of the established form is required.

We described the details of how spouses receive a deduction in the articles: “How to distribute a property deduction between spouses if housing was purchased after 01/01/2014 ” and “How to distribute a property deduction between spouses if housing was purchased before 01/01/2014 .”