How to get an income tax refund when a pensioner buys an apartment

Legislation

Certain categories of citizens have the right to return personal income tax for the purchase of an apartment and the construction of their own home. There is a certain limit - 260 thousand rubles (13% of 2 million). The list of persons entitled to receive a deduction includes pensioners.

But an elderly person can receive payment for the purchase or construction of real estate only under certain conditions:

1. Article 210 of the Tax Code indicates the amount of tax funds, which is 13% of the taxpayer’s income.
2. Art. 217 excludes deductions from pensions and other social benefits.
3. Clause 10 Art. 220 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation indicates that an elderly person has the right to take advantage of a property deduction if housing was purchased 3 years before retirement.
4. These rights are confirmed by letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated February 12, 2015 No. 03-04-05/6179.
5. Another letter from the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 17, 2014 No. 03-04-07/17776, where changes were made, indicates that payments are assigned to both a working pensioner and a non-working pensioner.

Based on all these documents, we conclude: pensioners have the right to receive compensation for the purchase of housing.

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Legal regulation

Issues of income tax refunds for pensioners are regulated by Articles 217 (clause 2), 220 (clause 10) of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Federal Law No. 330-FZ dated November 1, 2011, Letters of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated May 15, 2013 No. ED-4-3/ [ email protected] , dated 08/29/2012 No. ED-4-3/ [email protected]

In addition, Letters of the Ministry of Finance dated June 29, 2011 No. 03-04-05/5-455, dated September 24, 2013 No. 03-04-05/39618, dated May 15, 2015 No. 03-04-05/27878 are important in this matter , dated 04/03/2015 No. 03-04-05/18913, dated 02/20/2015 No. 03-04-05/8171, dated 01/17/2013 No. 03-04-05/7-33, dated 01/15/2013 No. 03-04 -05/7-20, dated 02/12/2015 No. 03-04-05/6179, dated 04/28/2012 No. 03-04-05/7-577. The wording of these acts is not always written in understandable legal language; extracts from each with explanations are given below.

Can a working and non-working pensioner return a tax deduction?

According to the law, people who have an official position with wages or other income, from which 13% are withheld, can apply for this.

If a person is of retirement age without a permanent job, and the main or only income is a budget payment (pension), then it will not be possible to return the money.

Exceptions are the following situations:

• sale of housing, shares and any other property;
• renting out living space or other premises.

If a pensioner does not have official earnings, but has income from this list, then he will definitely receive payments.

Attention! If a citizen has registered ownership of the purchased property 3 years after retirement and the last income tax deductions, then compensation is assigned to him.

What categories of people of retirement age are entitled to a tax deduction?

There is a general rule that applies to all taxpayers, including pensioners: the right to deduction arises from the year of receipt of the certificate of ownership, when purchasing real estate under a sale and purchase agreement, or the transfer and acceptance certificate when purchasing under a share participation agreement in construction .

In the year following the year in which the right to deduction was obtained, the pensioner-owner can exercise his right by submitting a 3-NDFL declaration to the tax authority. Two situations may arise:

1. property deduction for a working pensioner;
2. property deduction for a non-working pensioner.

A pensioner who continues to work has the right to submit a 3-NDFL declaration for a tax deduction when purchasing real estate in the year following the year in which such a right was obtained.

As we found out, the right to deduction arises in the year:

1. obtaining a certificate of ownership (if the property was purchased under a sales contract);
2. signing the transfer and acceptance certificate (in case of an agreement of shared participation in construction)

Let's look at a few examples that will help you decide on your case:

1. Purchasing real estate after retirement. The certificate of ownership of the apartment was received in 2020. The owner retired in 2014 but continues to work. The deduction is issued in 2016 for 2020 and the transfer of the deduction to 2014, 2013, 2012. If, having issued a transfer to the previous 3 years, the pensioner did not receive the entire deduction in full, that is, the balance of the property deduction has formed, then you can continue to receive it, transferring it to future years as long as there is income. According to paragraph 28, paragraph 2, paragraph 1 of Art. 220 Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
2. Purchasing real estate before retirement. The certificate of ownership of the apartment was received in 2020. The owner retired in mid-2020. The deduction is issued in 2020 for 2015, in 2020 for 2020 and the transfer of the balance of the tax deduction to 2020, 2014, 2013. But since the deduction has already been received for 2020, the transfer is possible only for 2014, 2013 . According to Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated August 28, 2014 No. 03-04-05/43076.

The transfer of the balance of the property deduction to previous years must be applied for during the year following the one in which the balance was formed (during 2020, a declaration for 2020 is submitted, for which the balance appears, and the transfer is immediately completed). If you miss the moment and apply to transfer the deduction, for example, to 2020, then you can apply for the deduction already two years in advance - 2014, 2013. According to Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 30, 2014 No. 03-04-RZ/26111.

Non-working pensioners have the right to a deduction if they worked for 3 years before the year the balance of the property deduction was formed. The absence of income taxed at a tax rate of 13% for taxpayers receiving pensions, if they have the right to receive a property tax deduction, indicates the presence of a balance of property deduction, which can be carried forward to previous tax periods, but not more than three. According to the Letter of the Ministry of Finance Russia dated April 28, 2012 No. 03-04-05/7-577.

We also draw your attention: The transfer of the balance of the property deduction to previous years must be applied for during the year following the one in which the balance was formed.

Let's look at specific examples:

1. The owner retired before the year of receiving the certificate of ownership of the purchased property. The certificate was received in 2014. The owner retired in 2013. In 2015, the deduction is transferred to 2013, 2012, 2011.
2. The owner retired long before the year of receiving the certificate of ownership of the purchased property. The certificate was received in 2013. The owner retired in 2008. In 2014, the deduction was transferred to 2012, 2011, 2010. As we can see, the owner did not work during these years, and, therefore, cannot use his right to deduction. If the property was purchased during marriage, the working or recently retired spouse may receive the deduction.
3. Purchasing real estate in the year of retirement. The certificate of ownership of the apartment was received in 2014. The owner retired in mid-2014. The deduction is issued in 2020 for 2014 and the balance of the tax deduction is transferred to 2013, 2012, 2011.

Article: Distribution of deductions in favor of a working or recently retired spouse.

Unfortunately, in practice there are often cases when the tax authority denies the right to a deduction to pensioners. It is illegal.

Based on paragraph 5 of paragraph 1 of Article 32 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, tax authorities are required to be guided by written explanations of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation on the application of the legislation of the Russian Federation on taxes and fees.

The corresponding clarifications on the procedure for providing property tax deductions to persons who are pensioners have been agreed upon with the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and sent to the territorial tax authorities by letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated July 19, 2013 No. ED-4-3/ [email protected]

Article: How to get a property deduction?

Example. In 2020, you received a salary of 100,000 rubles for the year. Your employer withheld from you and paid 13% income tax (income tax), that is, 13,000 rubles. Accordingly, in 2020 you can return the income tax (income tax) paid in 2020 in the amount of 13,000 rubles.

If the cost of the purchased property is less than 2,000,000 rubles, then the maximum amount of tax that can be refunded is 13% of the value of the purchased property.

Example 1. You bought an apartment worth 1,400,000 rubles in 2020. The amount of tax to be refunded will be 182,000 rubles (13% of 1,400,000 rubles).

If the cost of the purchased property is more than 2,000,000 rubles, then the maximum amount of tax subject to refund will be 13% of the established property deduction limit, i.e. 13% from 2,000,000 rubles.

Example 2. You bought an apartment worth 2,800,000 rubles in 2020. The amount of tax to be refunded will be 260,000 rubles (13% of 2,000,000 rubles).

But the amount of tax to be refunded will be within the limits of the income tax paid for a particular year.

Example 3. You bought an apartment worth 2,800,000 rubles in 2020. At the same time, you earned 200,000 rubles in 2020, and the amount of personal income tax (income tax) paid by you is 26,000 rubles. Accordingly, the amount of tax subject to refund for 2020 is 26,000 rubles. The rest (234,000 rubles) can be transferred to other years.

How to get the maximum deduction quickly and easily?

The easiest way is to quickly prepare the correct documents for the maximum refund and submit these documents with the Tax Office. With the Tax Inspectorate, the documents will be approved and you will not have to redo them. You will receive the correct documents and expert advice. And then you can choose whether to take the documents to the inspectorate yourself or submit them online.

To obtain your deduction documents on our website, please click the Next button below.

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The amounts from which deductions are made are standard:

• up to 2 million rubles paid to the seller under a housing purchase and sale transaction. That is, the maximum personal income tax refund amount will be 260 thousand rubles. If the contract price is below 2 million, then the contract amount is taken into account, if above 2 million, then the tax base is 2 million rubles;
• up to 3 million rubles in interest for loans and credits issued for residential real estate. It is possible to receive no more than 390 thousand rubles from the budget.

There is a list of income that is not taxed. Budget funds cannot be returned from them:

• pensions;
• alimony;
• one-time federal/municipal financial assistance to vulnerable social groups;
• proceeds from the sale of vegetables/fruits, domestic animals, etc. grown on a private farm.

It is possible to apply a property deduction if there was income taxed at tax rate 13 (that is, labor earnings, sale of property, rental of housing, receipt of lottery winnings, etc.).

The fact of paying other taxes (transport, property, land, etc.) is not related to personal income tax, and therefore does not affect the tax deduction.

You can submit documentation to the Federal Tax Service the following year after registering your property in Rosreestr.

Start of application period:

• if submitted by mail, then from the first calendar day of the year,
• if personally, then from the first working day of the new year.

If, in addition to receiving a deduction, you also need to report for income received in the past year, then the declaration must be submitted before April 30.

The declaration is submitted only to return the tax paid by the employer (i.e. there is no other taxable income), then there is no need to rush to April 30th. Documents can be submitted any day throughout the year.

Rules and nuances

The main nuance of reimbursement of benefits for the purchase of real estate by a pensioner is the shortened tax period of 3 years. It is during this period that funds are compensated.

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, there are certain rules for processing a tax deduction if a pensioner:

• rents out its property;
• sells personal property (apartment, house, car, etc.);
• receives another type of pension on which the law allows you to pay tax;
• has other income, for example, entrepreneurial activity, from which (personal income tax, VAT and others) are paid.

Thus, a pensioner does not need to work and have a white salary in order for the due compensation to be transferred to him.

Pre-retirement age

The problem with tax deductions was raised in financial departments. A citizen with wages subject to personal income tax has the right to a refund of the property deduction. Funds are paid over several tax periods until the entire claimed amount is compensated.

If there is additional income

Additional sources of income for a pensioner also give him the right to return preferential money. These sources include:

• sale/rent of property;
• presence of IP;
• pension from NPF;
• additional wages.

All this income is subject to personal income tax, which allows you to qualify for a refund.

For reference! When issuing compensation, it is necessary to take into account that its amount should not exceed the tax transferred to the state budget.

Stopped working

Different situations happen in life, and it may well happen that an elderly person stops working. At the same time, the citizen applied for benefits for the purchase of an apartment or house, but did not manage to return the entire amount. If he has not received all the compensation for the past 3 years, then the remainder will not be reimbursed.

For reference! Payments can be resumed only if the taxpayer has found an additional source of income or has issued a deduction for a spouse.

Property purchased before retirement

For any real estate purchased before retirement, a refund of benefits is issued, but only if the citizen has an official place of work with a salary.

Property purchased in the year of retirement

If a pensioner bought real estate before retirement or in the year of retirement, then you need to register funds for the previous years before the purchase.

Married

A spouse (pensioner) has the right to receive a deduction for housing acquired during a legal marriage (shared property) only if she has white earnings. If both spouses are officially employed, then the amount of compensation reaches 520 thousand rubles per family.

When they can refuse

There are a number of reasons why property deductions are denied:

1. Filling out a declaration with errors or misinformation in the 2-NDFL certificate.
2. The documents were submitted, but the inspector refused because... It is impossible to issue a deduction according to the legalized scheme.
3. The housing was purchased at the expense of the employer, but according to the documents it is registered in the name of the employee.
4. The purchase and sale transaction was carried out between relatives.
5. The applicant is a non-citizen of the Russian Federation.
6. Unofficial salary.
7. When transferring a deduction.

How to get a property deduction for pensioners?

If the husband or wife has income that is taxable, then the income tax can be returned through the spouse.
This rule applies even in cases where a citizen registers real estate in his own name, since property is legally recognized as jointly acquired property. The documents should be accompanied by a statement indicating the shares of property, as well as a marriage certificate.

To apply for a deduction at work, it is important to submit the above documents to the tax office in addition to the 2-personal income tax certificate. Tax service specialists will prepare a notification within 30 days, and the real estate buyer will submit a corresponding application to the organization’s accounting department.

According to the notification from the tax office and the employee’s statement, the organization stops withholding income tax until the entire amount of the property deduction is paid. If the amount of money is not repaid during the year, then it is necessary to issue a notice for the new year.

If a pensioner is employed in several companies, then it is important to note that since 2014, it is possible to issue several notifications for each place of work. In this case, the property deduction when purchasing an apartment for a pensioner is distributed among the specified employers, which significantly speeds up the return of the full amount.

Still have questions? Ask them in the comments to the article

Property tax deduction is an opportunity to legally return or not pay income tax (personal income tax) when buying and selling property (real estate, etc.). It applies only to this type of tax liability and is of two types: depending on whether you are selling or buying an apartment.

Any citizen of the Russian Federation whose income is subject to personal income tax at a rate of 13 percent can complete the procedure. For this reason, an income tax refund when purchasing an apartment by a pensioner is in most cases impossible. However, there are exceptions to this rule:

• if a pensioner has additional income, which is taxed at 13% (official rental of housing, etc.);
• if he works or worked for three years before purchasing the property.

The type of pension does not matter; in addition, it does not affect the possibility of returning the basis for accessing it. Until 2014, only non-working pensioners could return money for tax for 4 years before 2014, and for working people this period was reduced to 1 year, but from January 1 this right belongs to them too. If the property was purchased before receiving pension status, the benefit still remains - the main thing is that it was there at the time of filing the documents.

To calculate the property deduction, you need to take into account all the points (not just the price of the property purchased or sold). So, 13 percent is taken from:

• the paid price of the apartment;
• expenses for repaying interest on a target loan (until the end of the accounting year);
• additional expenses (finishing materials for apartments, construction materials for private houses, development of design estimates, connection of utilities for residential buildings, payment for construction and finishing works).

Other losses not listed in this list, for example, for redevelopment or the purchase of plumbing, are not taken into account. Do not indicate them in the declaration, because because of this you will be denied a tax refund and everything will have to be re-registered.

According to the general rules, since pension payments are not subject to personal income tax, pensioners who do not have other income other than pensions are not entitled to receive a deduction to reimburse expenses. But not everything is so simple. Provisions of paragraph 10 of Art. 220 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation significantly expanded the rights to receive a personal income tax refund for pensioners when purchasing an apartment, making this category of applicants different from the rest.

The legislator has established the following mechanism for obtaining a deduction for a pensioner:

• The right to deduction arises from the year of acquisition of the property. Having declared it, the pensioner can also declare the transfer of the balance of the deduction to 3 years preceding the year of purchase;
• The right to transfer the deduction does not depend on the availability of income and whether the pensioner is currently working or no longer - it is granted to all pensioners who own purchased housing;
• If a pensioner continues to work after retirement, then he will be able to transfer the deduction to both previous and future years in accordance with the general procedure.

So, the next year after receiving the right to deduction, the pensioner owner can exercise this exclusive right by declaring it in form 3-NDFL. Let's consider how the time of retirement affects personal income tax compensation by analyzing situations with deductions for working and non-working pensioners.

The ability of a working pensioner to receive a deduction is interpreted depending on when the housing was purchased.

The provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation fully apply to non-working pensioners. But they have the right to a deduction provided they receive income (work) three years before the year in which the remainder of the deduction is formed. When applying for a balance transfer, remember:

• Documents must be submitted to the Federal Tax Service after the end of the year in which the balance of the deduction was formed;
• at the same time, transfer the deduction to the three years preceding the purchase;
• If the pensioner had no taxable income during these years, then the costs cannot be reimbursed.

In practice, the right to use deduction transfer is implemented differently in different situations.

Unfortunately, there are frequent cases of denial of deductions to pensioners. This is illegal, since the Federal Tax Service, in matters of applying tax legislation, is obliged to be guided by the explanations of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation on the procedure and conditions for providing property deductions to pensioners (clause 5, clause 1, article 32 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Tax refunds are made up to four years in advance.

When an apartment (house, room) is bought by an ordinary working person, and later he retires, there are no special difficulties in obtaining a deduction for a pensioner when buying an apartment. Such an owner can refer to the current pension status and return personal income tax, as provided for pensioners.

Example, an apartment was purchased in 2020. The owner finished his working career in 2020. In 2020, he submitted documents for a refund for 2018, as well as the previous 3 years (2017, 2020, 2015). That is, the countdown will begin from 2020 - from the moment of retirement, and not from the moment when the “deduction right” arises (2016).

But the more time passes between buying a home and retirement, the less opportunity there is to capture past years as a refund. And when the time gap becomes more than 3 years, the pension benefits disappear.

Let's assume the property was purchased in 2014 and deduction returns have been filed since 2015. Retirement occurred in 2020. By claiming the balance in 2020, the applicant will not be able to claim the balance before 2014, only for 2020, 2020, 2020, 2015. And personal income tax was already returned on them.

There are three options for submitting deduction documentation.

The owner or his representative (using a notarized power of attorney) only needs to visit the territorial Federal Tax Service. The return package is handed over to the specialist at the appropriate window (the administrator or any other employee of the Federal Tax Service will tell you the number/location of the window). You need to bring with you both copies (which you submit to the tax office) and originals (which you simply show to a specialist to verify copies).

The inspector must put a mark (position, full name of the inspector, his signature, date) on the acceptance of the declaration on its copy. Therefore, you should immediately submit two copies of 3-NDFL (one to the Federal Tax Service, the other to mark yourself). It is advisable to provide an inventory of the entire package, which will be signed by a Federal Tax Service employee. This method is convenient because upon delivery, the inspector can point out shortcomings that can be corrected immediately or in the near future, without delaying the resolution of the issue.

Declaration 3-NDFL

Income tax refund when a pensioner purchases an apartment

To carry out this procedure, you must follow the step-by-step instructions:

1. Prepare a package of papers and fill out a declaration. A receipt indicating the cost of finishing services (if necessary) is attached to the documents.
2. Submit the documentation along with the completed Form 3-NDFL. Addressing is allowed to two authorities. If the pensioner works, then you can send it to the employer or to the Federal Tax Service.
3. Documents are sent in several ways: in person, by mail and electronically. The tax service will review the papers for 3 months and another 1 month will be needed to transfer the money if the decision is positive. If the deduction is made through the employer, the funds will be received by the applicant after the authorization to receive payments is presented to the accounting department.

Documents required for registration:

• passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation;
• marriage certificate (if the property was purchased during a legal marriage);
• contract of sale;
• certificate of ownership;
• act of transfer of property into ownership;
• payment papers;
• declaration;
• certificate 2-NDFL about income;
• current account number;
• statement;
• mortgage agreement and interest payment schedule (for a mortgage);
• application from spouses to receive a deduction in equal shares.

The declaration is filled out in two ways:

• independently by hand;
• electronically through the “Declaration” program or the “State Services” website.

Form 3-NDFL, completed manually, is submitted to the tax office independently during a personal visit or by mail along with a package of documents. It is sent electronically to the Federal Tax Service website through the taxpayer’s account.

The tax authority transfers the money to a bank account or card in a one-time payment. The employer will pay monthly the funds that were previously withheld in the form of income.

How to get a job

To receive a tax deduction for a working citizen of retirement age, you need to collect a package of documents from the previously given list, submit it to the Federal Tax Service at your place of residence or to your manager and wait for a response.

How to return someone who is not working

For a non-working pensioner, the situation is a little more complicated: he needs to provide the income form required by law. Otherwise, no one will return the funds to him.

How to apply

Tax deductions when purchasing an apartment for pensioners can be obtained in two ways. The first is a one-time payment of the entire amount after the end of the calendar year in which the apartment was purchased or through the employer (documents must be submitted to the Federal Tax Service). The second is when the tax office issues notifications of the right to receive a property deduction and the employer does not withhold personal income tax from the employee’s salary until the entire amount is returned. Details are given below.

To apply for an income tax refund, citizens need to contact the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate (Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service). An important condition is that the procedure is done once. Instructions and procedure:

1. Submit all necessary documents in person, by mail or via the Internet.
2. Wait three months for the Service to verify the legality of the procedure.
3. Provided that there are no reasons not to do this, the Federal Tax Service will pay the deduction within 1 month.

Through the employer

In this case, the deduction is repaid by not deducting personal income tax from the pensioner’s salary. This means that this option is suitable only for working citizens of the Russian Federation. Instructions:

1. Obtain a certificate from the tax office confirming the possibility of a tax deduction.
2. Present your documents to your employer.
3. Starting from the next month after submitting the papers, management is obliged not to withhold personal income tax as repayment of the deduction (in fact, this means that you will be paid a higher salary).
4. Next year you will need to contact the tax office again to confirm your right to a refund.

To receive a property payment of 13%, a pensioner must complete the following steps:

1. Purchase real estate by completing all documents confirming ownership.
2. Obtain a certificate from the accounting department from your place of work confirming payment of income tax in form 2-NDFL.
3. Fill out a tax return with the fiscal authority at your place of residence.

The refund amount includes not only the funds spent on the purchase of housing, but also money for repairs carried out in it. To do this, the purchase and sale agreement must indicate that the apartment or house was purchased with defects and a number of unfinished works.

After submitting all documents to the tax office, the authenticity and reliability of the provided data will be checked within 3 months. Next, the pensioner will receive a notification that the application has been approved. After which you should come to the inspection department at your place of residence, fill out a form in which you indicate the account number for transferring payments.

If any inaccuracies or missing information are identified, a corresponding notification will also be sent with a request to clarify all inaccuracies. Pensioners submit documents at any convenient time throughout the year.

Property tax rates

The amount of refunded funds directly depends on the Tax Code: the document states how much a citizen is entitled to. The maximum amount of payments is 13% of 2 million rubles - 260 thousand. A person receives this amount when applying for compensation for the purchase of a home.

There is another figure established by law - 3 million rubles. The applicant will receive a limit of 13% (390 thousand) of this amount in case of purchasing residential premises with a mortgage. In this situation, the taxpayer is entitled to a mortgage interest refund.

There is one more point in receiving money: dividing tax funds between spouses in equal shares or according to the deed. The amount will be 520 thousand rubles per family.

Social benefits for pensioners

Social tax deductions can be issued:

• if tuition was paid (your own or your immediate family);
• when using paid healthcare services or purchasing medications;
• when transferring funds to charity;
• if funds are contributed for the purpose of voluntary pension insurance.

It is advisable to consider the specifics of processing social deductions using the example of reimbursements for treatment, since this is the option that is usually of interest to pensioners.

An important condition for receiving a deduction for treatment is that the medical institution must have a state license. Moreover, the deduction is provided only for those services that are contained in the legally established list. All of them are divided into two categories: conventional and expensive treatment.

According to the law, social deductions include the following types of expenses of citizens:

• to receive services: educational;
• medical;

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We discussed medicine above. A retired worker can apply for a social tax preference in the same manner. Non-working pension recipients are entitled to such a benefit only if they had taxable income in the reporting period (from rent or from the sale of real estate).

Hint: social preference is provided on a general basis.

A standard tax benefit is a reduction in the tax base at the place of duty on the grounds established by law. For example, if the applicant is raising a minor child. This is provided to pension recipients on a general basis.

For information: working pension recipients can apply for a standard relaxation.

Tax deduction for pensioners when buying and selling an apartment

Let us remind you that when purchasing a home, a tax deduction is applied to the Buyer’s current and future income (for example, salary), on which he pays personal income tax equal to 13%. In other words, such a deduction reduces his tax base and allows him to return from the budget part of the money that he pays there in the form of personal income tax. For what years?

In general, this applies to the year of purchase and subsequent years, but there are special conditions for pensioners (more on them below).. In addition, the deadline for submitting an application for a deduction with a transfer ! In order for a pensioner to receive a tax deduction from his income for the previous 3 years for the purchase of an apartment (to issue a “balance transfer”), he must submit an application for the deduction on time ! That is, in the year following the year of purchase (reporting tax period).

If he submits the application later, in subsequent years, then the number of years for which the deduction can be transferred is correspondingly reduced (Opens in a new tab.”>Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated March 21, 2016, 11th paragraph). Despite a lot of explanations about the tax deductions available to citizens when buying and selling apartments, many pensioners still have questions. For some reason, the tax authorities did not pay due attention to such a large, elderly and inquisitive category of our citizens.

And for them, there really are nuances in the application of property tax deductions in real estate transactions. It is this question that we will now consider. Only pensioners have this opportunity, and in this they have an advantage over all other citizens.

Formally, this is called “transferring the balance of the property tax deduction to previous tax periods . Translated into human language, this means that if a pensioner bought an apartment, then he can apply (transfer) a tax deduction to his income for the 3 years preceding the year of purchase of the apartment (see example below). If in the years preceding the purchase the pensioner no longer worked and did not receive income, accordingly, then there will simply be nothing to transfer the deduction Did you notice the phrase “most retirees”? So not everything?

Yes, not all. The fact is that although all pensions are recognized as income of individuals (Opens in a new tab."> clause 7, clause 1, article 208 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), only pensions received from non-state pension funds are subject to a 13% tax. and only if the contract with such a fund was concluded by the employing organization, and not by the individual himself (Opens in a new tab."> clause 2, article 213.1, Tax Code of the Russian Federation). And those pensions that are provided by the state pension fund are exempt from personal income tax (Opens in a new tab.”>clause 2, art.

217, Tax Code of the Russian Federation). All funded pensions are also exempt from personal income tax (Opens in a new tab."> clause 1, article 213.1, Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This means that a non-working pensioner can receive a tax deduction (return personal income tax) when buying an apartment only if he receives his pension from a non-state pension fund to which his employer made contributions.

If he receives a regular state pension (Opens in a new tab.”>PFR fund), then no tax is paid on it, and accordingly, it will not be possible to return it either. But!…