Who must pay land tax and what determines its amount?
Not every businessman has to pay land tax.
As soon as a land plot appears as part of his property, the issue of calculating and paying this tax becomes relevant. For example, on January 21, 2020, the company registered ownership of land - from that moment on, it has the obligation to calculate and pay land tax (clause 1 of Article 388 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
If the company decides to register the land under the right of free-term use or has entered into a lease agreement, it does not have the obligation to pay land tax and there is no need to look for an answer to the question of how to calculate the land tax (clause 2 of Article 388 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
IMPORTANT! Land tax is local and is regulated not only by the Tax Code (Chapter 31), but also by land and municipal legislation (in terms of establishing benefits, rates, and payment procedures).
The amount of tax depends on several factors: the regional location and cadastral value of the site, the purpose of its use, the tax rate and the availability of benefits. In relation to this tax, regions are given the opportunity to:
- approve the amount of rates on it, without going beyond the limits established by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
- differentiate these rates;
- introduce additional benefits;
- decide on the payment of advance tax;
- set payment deadlines (until 01/01/2021).
From 01/01/2021, local authorities do not determine payment deadlines for land tax. The deadline will be the same throughout the country: March 1 for annual taxes and the last day of the month following the reporting period for advance payments. The new rules are effective from the annual payment for the 2021 tax period.
Starting with the tax for 2021, its declaration has been canceled, and the Federal Tax Service will send messages with the amount of tax calculated according to the data it has. The message will indicate the cadastral number of the plot, the amount of tax, the tax period, as well as the data on the basis of which the tax is calculated: tax base, tax rate, amount of tax benefits, etc. However, this does not mean that legal entities no longer need to calculate the tax themselves. This responsibility will remain with organizations in the future. After all, the payer must know the amount in order to make advance payments during the year (if such are established by local authorities). And the message from the tax office is more of an informational nature. And he will receive it after the deadline for paying advances (see, for example, letter of the Ministry of Finance dated June 19, 2019 No. 03-05-05-02/44672).
Important! Recommendation from ConsultantPlus Compare the amount of tax calculated by the inspectorate with the amount you calculated and paid. If they are equal, then the tax was calculated and paid correctly. If the amounts differ, check:... What to check and what to do in case of an error (yours or the tax authorities), see K+. Trial access to the system can be obtained for free.
ATTENTION! If you do not receive the notification, you are required to independently inform the tax authorities about your taxable property. Read about the nuances in the material “Organizations will have to report transport and land plots to the tax authorities.”
Next, we will consider the procedure for calculating land tax for a legal entity.
Results
Organizations calculate the tax amount independently. They pay the tax quarterly (if local authorities have introduced advances) and at the end of the year. Payment deadlines have been changed from 2021.
Individuals and individual entrepreneurs receive a tax notice from the Federal Tax Service and pay tax at the end of the year no later than December 1 of the year following the reporting year.
Sources:
- Tax Code of the Russian Federation
- Law of Moscow “On Land Tax” dated November 24, 2004 No. 74
You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.
The procedure for calculating and paying land tax on a plot (basic formula)
How is land tax calculated for 2021? At first glance, it’s usually: we multiply the tax base by the rate. In this case, the cadastral value of the land established at the beginning of the corresponding tax year serves as the base (clause 1 of Article 389 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Important! Hint from ConsultantPlus Where to find the cadastral value of a plot for land tax There are several ways to find out the cadastral value: order an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate... You will find two more ways to find out the cadastral value in K+. You can get trial access for free.
If land is bought or sold during the year, the land tax formula will be adjusted taking into account the period of land ownership (the coefficient Kv is calculated as the ratio of full months of land ownership to 12 months). A month in which the ownership right arose before the 15th day or was lost after the 15th day is considered complete (clause 7 of Article 396 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
A different coefficient (Ci) should be applied if the cadastral value changes during the year.
How the tax is calculated in this case, read the article “Calculation of land tax when the cadastral value changes.”
A special procedure for calculating land tax applies if the land is located on the territory of two municipalities at once. Then the cost of the plot is divided between these entities, taking into account the share of area located in each of them (clause 1 of Article 391 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). And for each part, its own tax calculation is made using the benefits and rates corresponding to each of the entities.
An example of determining the base for land tax if the site is located in the territories of two municipalities from ConsultantPlus Organizational site with an area of 1,000 square meters. m is located on the territories of two municipalities (MO). Municipality No. 1 accounts for 480 sq. m, for municipality No. 2 - 520 sq. m. m The cadastral value of the plot in the Unified State Register of Real Estate as of January 1 of the year is 2,000,000 rubles. Let's determine the share of the plot for each municipality: For the full example, see K+. This can be done for free.
The company is required not only to calculate land tax based on the cadastral value using all coefficients - it is equally important to report to the tax office on time and pay the tax.
How to calculate and pay tax, read the article “Land tax for the year - how to calculate and when to pay?”
Regional law may require quarterly advance tax payments. Each such payment is calculated as ¼ of the annual tax amount (clause 6 of Article 396 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) taking into account the number of months of ownership in the corresponding quarter (clause 7 of Article 396 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
We tell you when to pay advance payments for land tax in the article “Deadlines for paying advance payments for land tax.”
What has changed in 2021
The main change is that entrepreneurs and legal entities are exempt from filing declarations. Land tax in 2021 for businesses must be paid within the deadlines approved by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The amount of payment must match the amount of charges, information about which is provided by the district Federal Tax Service. These changes can be characterized as conditionally positive.
A negative change for business is the reduction in the number of exceptions when adjustments to cadastral value must be taken into account when recalculating accruals for current and previous periods. There are only 2 such exceptions left.
Starting from this year, the obligation to notify the Federal Tax Service about the availability of land plots subject to taxation lies with the taxpayer (previously, data was exchanged between departments - Rosreestr and the Federal Tax Service).
Attention!
In case of violation of the deadline for filing a notification, the taxpayer, in accordance with clause 3 of Art. 129.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation will have to pay a fine of 20% of the amount that should have been accrued and paid.
There have also been certain changes in the order of transfers to the budget.
Calculation of land tax based on cadastral value using an example
Let's see how to calculate land tax for 2021. For example, a company that registered ownership of a land plot on January 21, 2020, found out its cadastral value at the beginning of the year (980,000 rubles) and the tax rate (1.5%) in force in the relevant area (from the local land regulatory legal act). These legal acts do not provide benefits or increasing coefficients.
Let's calculate land tax in 2021:
980,000 rub. × 1.5% × 11/12 = 13,475 rubles,
Where:
11/12 is a coefficient that takes into account the full months of ownership of the plot (from February to December) from the 12 months of 2021. January is not included in the calculation, since the right to land arose in the second half of the month.
Let's look at an example of how to calculate land tax if local land legislation provides for advance payments. Using the initial data of the previous calculation, we obtain the following:
- The advance payment for the 1st quarter of 2021, taking into account the number of months of ownership, will be 2,450 rubles. (1/4 × 980,000 × 1.5% × 2/3);
- for each of the following reporting periods (for half a year and 9 months of 2021), the payment will be 3,675 rubles. (1/4 × 980,000 × 1.5%);
- at the end of 2021, it will be necessary to pay to the budget an amount equal to the difference between the full tax amount calculated for the year, taking into account the number of months of ownership, and the amount of advance payments accrued for this year (13,475 – 2,450 – 3,675 × 2 = 3,675).
IMPORTANT! The tax is paid in full rubles (observing the rounding rule) - this is established by Art. 52 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
Download a sample payment order for payment of land tax here .
Briefly
- The purchase, sale and lease of land plots for a period of more than a year are registered in Rosreestr.
- It is permissible to register land plots using the forms of primary documents developed by the organization.
- When selling part of a plot, it is necessary to divide it, and not write off and register new objects.
- The purchase and sale of land is not subject to VAT.
- Rental of private land is subject to VAT.
- Sublease of any land is subject to VAT.
- Income tax expenses can include the costs of a plot only when it is sold.
- Otherwise, expenses for land plots of a state or municipal nature are included in income tax calculations if there are buildings on them or their construction is expected.
How to calculate land tax taking into account the benefits?
Benefits contained in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation or established by local authorities can exempt a company from paying land tax in whole or in part (Article 395 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
If municipalities have provided a benefit for a company's land plot, the tax is calculated taking into account this benefit.
Let's continue our example of calculating land tax: a company has located a scientific center on its land plot (it occupies 20% of the area and is used for its intended purpose), and local authorities have provided tax exemption for land plots used to house scientific institutions.
The land tax will then be calculated as follows.
- Let's determine the tax base:
(980,000 rub. – 980,000 rub. × 20%) = 784,000 rub.
- Let's determine the amount of tax at a tax rate of 1.5% and coefficient (Kv) = 0.9167 (previously calculated as 11/12):
784,000 rub. × 1.5% × 0.9167 = 10,780 rubles.
Read more about the benefits established by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in the article “Object of taxation of land tax” .
Formation of the local budget
There are two types of budgets in Russia: federal and local. We will put the federal budget aside and focus on the local budget. Before we talk about the role of land tax, we need to understand how the budget is formed.
There are two parts of the budget: revenue and expenditure . Its income consists of state subsidies, mutual settlements, financial assistance, support, as well as its own income.
Such income includes local taxes, shares assigned to the territorial budget, from contributions to the federal budget, as well as to the local budget of a higher level, funds that the budget receives from other types of activities. For example, leasing of real estate, privatization, etc.
It is clear that a high-level local budget has more sources for replenishing revenue than a lower-level budget. Therefore, land tax plays a greater role in the revenue side of the lower-level budget than in the higher-level budget. That is, for a city, land tax plays a lesser role than for a village council, where it can be the main filler of the budget. Read more about land tax rates for individuals here.
Is it possible to calculate land tax paid by legal entities online?
How to calculate land tax online? This is a completely natural question with modern automation of settlement processes. Services for calculating tax amounts using an online calculator are offered by many websites.
But you can take advantage of these offers if the tax calculation algorithm is quite simple (for example, there are no benefits, and the site is located on the territory of one municipal district). Otherwise, you will not be able to find a universal calculator.
As practical experience shows, it is better to calculate land tax using a formula you created yourself (automating the process using Excel spreadsheets or other proprietary computer developments).
And for individuals and individual entrepreneurs, a special service is available on the Federal Tax Service website, which will calculate the amount of tax online. See details here .
