Afanasyeva Marina Tax consultant with 4 years of experience.
Hello. When purchasing real estate, pensioners have their own characteristics in obtaining a tax deduction. There is a lot to consider here - whether the pensioner is working or not, when he bought the property and when he retired. I will analyze individual situations and describe all the points according to the principle “from simple to complex”, I will give examples - everything for a better understanding.
In this article I will describe the deduction when buying an apartment without a mortgage and other subsidies. Our main article is all about property deduction.
Tax deduction on purchase
The Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that a tax deduction for the purchase of real estate is provided to every resident of the Russian Federation
in the amount of 2 million rubles. when buying an apartment and 3 million rubles. from the amount of interest paid on the mortgage loan.
Does this include pensioners? Certainly! They are citizens of the Russian Federation, just like working people. Moreover, this category includes students, mothers on maternity leave and housewives, schoolchildren, children for whom ownership of apartments is registered.
Everyone gets a tax deduction on purchases
. But how to use it is another question, which we’ll talk about a little further.
Subsidies for major repairs
All home owners are required to pay contributions for major repairs. But some categories of people can apply for a subsidy and not pay. Let's figure it out.
Who may not pay at all:
- if the house is in disrepair and will soon be demolished;
- if the owner is over 80 years old.
Who is eligible for the subsidy?
Those who are not exempt from paying contributions can apply for a subsidy. Who is entitled to a subsidy of 50% of the cost:
- disabled people of groups 1 and 2;
- owners, disabled children and their parents;
- heroes of the country and holders of the Order of Glory;
- WWII participants and their families;
- people who suffered as a result of the Chernobyl accident, as well as members of their families;
- citizens who suffered as a result of the accident at the Mayak production site;
- single owners over 70 years of age;
- non-working owners over 70 years old, if in their family there are only non-working pensioners or disabled people of groups 1-2.
In addition, it is worth going to a special section on the State Services portal. It lists all the benefits and subsidies to which the owner is entitled in a particular region. It's worth checking out this section.
In some regions, people may receive compensation for payments for major repairs or may not pay it if the utilities amount exceeds 10-20% of the total family income.
On what income is a tax refund possible?
What other income can there be so that a property deduction can be issued for both a working and a non-working pensioner.
It could be:
- wages if the pensioner continues to work;
- payment for work or services under a civil contract;
- sale of real estate or other property on which income tax is paid;
- rental of housing, provided that personal income tax is withheld at a rate of 13%.
If you have any of these points of income (or several), then move on to the next question: how to get a tax deduction for a pensioner?
According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, a pensioner (both working and non-working) can receive a property deduction for the year of purchase of real estate, as well as for the 3 previous years
- provided that during these years he paid personal income tax.
Where to contact
To the Federal Tax Service:
- If you have a permanent residence permit, go to the territorial inspectorate at your place of residence;
- There is no permanent registration, only temporary - at the Federal Tax Service at the temporary registration address;
- There is no registration at all, then at the location of the purchased housing. And if at the time of your visit to the Federal Tax Service the property has already been sold, then you can contact any inspectorate of the citizen’s choice. But first you need to write an application for registration (assignment) of a citizen to the Federal Tax Service.
When you change your residential address, the place of registration also changes (link to the inspection). For a refund, you should contact the new Federal Tax Service, where the taxpayer will be registered.
To the employer:
It is allowed to receive a deduction and submit documentation in the current year (in which the property right was registered) through the employer (this does not apply to non-working pensioners). The employer can pay wages without withholding personal income tax only in the current year.
The employer will not be able to return tax from the budget for the previous three years. You must apply for these amounts yourself to the inspectorate in the usual manner.
At the MFC:
Documents can be transferred (both submitted and received) through specialists of the multifunctional center, and to any unit in the territory of the locality and even the region. All the same rules apply here as for the Federal Tax Service regarding deadlines for submission, consideration, decision-making, appealing refusals, etc.
There is one condition at the regional level: the authorities must enter into an agreement on such transfer of documents between the MFC and the tax authority. Whether the agreement has been concluded or not will be reported to the MFC.
How are the last 3 years counted?
If the pensioner is already officially registered as a pensioner
and bought real estate, then the year from which the previous 3 are considered is the year of purchase of the property.
If a pre-retirement person purchased a home
, and then retired, then the 3 previous years must be counted from the year of dismissal.
Let's look at both of these cases as an example.
Example 1
. Being retired, citizen Dedushkin buys an apartment, for example, in 2021. According to the Tax Code, he can now receive a tax refund for the year in which he became the owner. This is 2021 in our example. And also for the previous 3 years: 2021, 2021, 2021.
Thus, if during all these years he has withheld personal income tax, then he can return it by filing 4 declarations over 4 years.
If in some of these years Dedushkin had no income and no tax paid, then, accordingly, a 3-NDFL declaration is not filed for this period, because there is nothing to return.
It is important to remember that the total refundable tax for this period should not exceed the maximum possible amount of 260,000 rubles. A return on mortgage interest, if it was paid, may also be a plus.
If it was not possible to return the full amount of personal income tax within 4 years, then in this case it will be possible to continue the return by drawing up declarations in the future.
Example 2
. Pre-retirement Babushkin is buying an apartment in 2021. Like all citizens, he can return personal income tax only for 2021. Then the balance is carried forward to future periods: 2021, 2022, etc., until he returns the maximum possible amount. But if Babushkin retires, for example, in 2021, then he has the right to return tax for the current year (year of retirement) and for the previous 3 years.
If Babushkin was not lazy and filled out a declaration for 2020 earlier, then upon retirement he can fill out 3 more 3-NDFL declarations: for 2021, 2021 and 2021.
Can you now calculate for yourself which years you can prepare tax reports for if Babushkin retires in 2022?
Approval and payment
You should be aware that the requested amount for payment can be paid in the absence of debts on any taxes. But this applies to cases where the declaration is not submitted for the current period, but corrective declarations for the missing years (within the three previous years). And until the debt is repaid, payment will not be received. By the way, the debt can be paid off with a deduction, even for other types of tax.
Links to legislative acts
- Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Offset or refund of amounts of overpaid tax, fee, insurance premiums, penalties, fines
- Article 220 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Property tax deductions
- Article 229 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Tax return
- Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation No. 03-04-07/40091 dated July 13, 2015
- Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation No. 03-04-07/17776 dated April 17, 2014
- Appendix No. 8 to the Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia No. ММВ-7-8/ [email protected] dated 02.14.2017
- Order of the Federal Tax Service No. ММВ-7-11 / [email protected] dated 10/03/2018 “On approval of the tax return form for personal income tax (form 3-NDFL), the procedure for filling it out, as well as the format for submitting the tax return on the income of individuals in electronic form"
If there is no income
What should a pensioner do if during a certain year when he was supposed to apply for a property deduction, there was no income?
In this case, as they say, the player misses his turn. Such rules. But this is not the end of the game yet
.
If the income will be after the purchase
After all, payment of personal income tax may “happen” several years after purchasing real estate
. In this case, it will be possible to file a tax refund declaration, because the property deduction does not “burn out.” It can always be returned both for the apartment and for the mortgage. The main thing is that personal income tax is withheld.
Example
. Pensioner Dedushkin (retired since 2015) buys an apartment in 2020 for 3 million rubles. Of all his income, he only has a pension, so he cannot issue a personal income tax refund.
But, as they say, life in retirement is just beginning. And he meets a wonderful grandmother, with whom he decides to live the rest of his life... in a new shared house. Therefore, in 2021, he profitably sells his apartment for 4.5 million rubles.
The period of ownership of the property is less than 5 years, a profit of 1.5 million rubles (4.5 million - 3 million) was received, on which you will have to pay personal income tax of 13%. And this is a lot of money for a pensioner: 195,000 rubles.
And here Dedushkin will find his right to receive a property deduction very useful, which he previously could not use, since he did not have income from which personal income tax was withheld.
Now, having filed a 3-NDFL declaration for 2021 and applied offset, he will not have to pay sales tax. After all, he can legally reduce the calculated tax base (TB) of 1.5 million by a property deduction of 2 million rubles.
In this case, the tax base will be zero, and the income tax will also be zero. Moreover, Dedushkin will have 500 thousand rubles left. to apply the property deduction in the future. In the event that taxable income appears.
If the spouse has income
It is possible to distribute the deduction with your husband or wife if the property was purchased during marriage
, even if it is officially registered to one owner. The spouse of the homeowner can apply for a deduction if he has income and has not previously used or not fully used his right to a property refund.
Example
. Pensioner Babushkin (retired since 2015) buys an apartment in 2020 for 3 million rubles. Of all his income, he only has a pension, so he cannot issue a personal income tax refund. But at the same time, he has a wife who continues to work and regularly pays personal income tax. In this case, it will be possible to issue a personal income tax refund specifically for her, if she has not previously used her right. As a result, it will be possible to return 13% of 2 million rubles. (this is the maximum deduction amount per person).
Subsidy conditions
The accrual of subsidies for housing payments to pensioners is suspended if there is arrears in paying utility bills for more than two months. However, it is always provided only for a certain period, since the family’s income, its social status and other parameters that affect the amount of compensation may change. To receive compensation, you must also not change your place of residence.
Low-income citizens can receive a subsidy. This category includes not only single pensioners, but also families with several pensioners. The condition is that the person applying for compensation must be:
Loan for pensioners (online decision in 1 minute) Home Credit Bank, Individuals. No. 316
from 7.9%
per annum
up to 3 million
up to 7 years
Get a loan
- user of the premises from the state fund;
- owner;
- member of the residential complex and housing cooperative.
The main condition is the level of income. If one of the immediate relatives living with the pensioner works or the family income is above the established minimum, then it will be more difficult to receive monetary compensation.
Apartment subsidies for pensioners will not be awarded if:
- a person occupies space under a free user agreement;
- a sublease agreement has been drawn up;
- an annuity agreement has been entered into with the dependent who owns the property.
Return deadlines for pensioners
It is important not to delay the registration of a property deduction for a pensioner
. The longer you delay filling out the declaration, the fewer years you will be able to return the money.
Why is that? The deadline for processing and submitting tax returns is limited: only 4 years
. Reports for an earlier period will not be accepted.
How to calculate this? Very simple. Determine your option and the year in which the right to a personal income tax refund arises: either the year of purchase of housing, or the year of retirement. For example, let it be 2021. Counting back 3 years: 2021, 2021, 2018
.
3-NDFL declarations for all these years can be completed in 2022. If you “miss” this deadline and remember about the property deduction in 2023, then you will no longer be able to return your personal income tax for 2021. In another year you will “lose” 2021.
You can repeat the material covered and clearly see all the information in this video.
