Do I need to pay inheritance tax to close relatives?

Inheritance is the process of obtaining ownership of property, cash, securities and other assets left over from a deceased owner.

The heirs may be his relatives, friends, other relatives, as well as strangers. Their list and shares in the inheritance are indicated in the will during the life of the testator, and if such a document has not been drawn up, then they are established in the manner determined by the current legislation, primarily the Civil Code.

Due to the fact that accepting an inheritance is actually receiving income, a question arises regarding taxation. In particular, many heirs do not know whether they need to pay:

• income tax on assets received (money, property, securities, etc.);
• real estate tax (for example, if an apartment, garage or house is inherited);
• other taxes (for example, when selling inherited property).

Who is charged inheritance tax?

The law exempts recipients of inherited property from paying personal income tax (personal income tax). It remains to be determined whether the inheritance received is taxable:

• by will;
• by law (without a will).

Expert opinion

Stanislav Evseev

Lawyer. Experience 12 years. Specialization: civil, family, inheritance law.

Regardless of the degree of relationship and the basis for accepting the inheritance, taxation is not applied to the heirs.

However, this does not mean that entering into an inheritance is free of charge. When registering the property of the deceased through a notary office, the citizen pays a state fee. According to general rules, the fee is paid before the commencement of notarial acts.

The amount of the fee is determined by the notary when preparing the relevant documents. The calculations are based on the inventory, market or cadastral price of the objects.

The fee is withheld from all applicants, regardless of the degree of relationship and methods of accepting the inheritance. The only difference is the amount of the mandatory fee that the heirs must pay. The exception is preferential categories of recipients of property rights.

Inheritance tax under a will

The administrative document is the basis for obtaining rights to inheritance. It allows the testator to independently decide to whom and what part of the property to leave after death.

Moreover, he can change his decision throughout his life. For example, if relations with one of the applicants have deteriorated greatly.

To do this, you need to visit a notary and make a new document, which automatically revokes the previous will. If the testator is in the hospital at this time, then the head physician of the medical institution can certify the document.

If there is a written document, the heirs have priority over other claimants to the property of the deceased person. The exception is persons who are entitled to a mandatory share.

Submission of documents for acceptance of inheritance is carried out within 6 months from the date of death. You must contact a notary office at the place of residence of the deceased person.

Is there a tax on wills? Legal successors pay by order:

1. When to apply for acceptance of inheritance. To certify the application for entry into rights, you must pay a state fee of 100 rubles.
2. When they turn to a notary to obtain a certificate.

Sample application for acceptance of inheritance

Payment of the state fee is carried out before receiving the main document.

Duty rate

However, when traveling outside the notary’s office, the price for services will increase 1.5 times (Article 333.25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Apartment

One of the most common types of inherited property is real estate. Registration of documents for an apartment in an apartment building is carried out at the notary's office at the residence address of the testator.

The basis for issuing a certificate is an application from a potential applicant. Payment of the state duty is carried out before the paperwork begins.

Tariffing depends on the degree of relationship. To calculate the final fee, an assessment of the property is required. Heirs can choose at their discretion one of the indicators - inventory, market or cadastral value.

Appraisal of an apartment is a paid procedure. The applicant will pay from 3000 rubles. When receiving a certificate from the BTI about the inventory value, you need to pay 650 rubles to the BTI.

If there are several heirs, then the tax is paid by each of them in proportion to the due share of the property received by inheritance.

Example. After the man's death, a 2-room apartment remained. He was not married. There were no children or parents. There are 3 claimants to the inheritance under the will - 2 brothers and a sister. The estimated value of the property is RUB 3,300,000. The state duty for this category of relatives is 0.3%. Heirs do not have any benefits for paying the mandatory fee. The calculation of the total tax amount is 3,300,000 × 0.3% = 9,900 rubles, therefore, each of them must pay 3,300 rubles.

If necessary, co-heirs can draw up a written agreement among themselves (Article 1165 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). This will allow the settlement of property relations after the parties to the transaction receive the corresponding share of the inheritance. The document is usually drawn up after receiving the certificate.

Heirs who lived together with the owner in his apartment for 6 months or more are exempt from paying apartment duty. However, they must pay for notary services in full.

Earth

Registration of a land plot occurs in the same manner as apartments. You can order an assessment from a specialized commercial organization or Rosreestr.

To complete the documents, you will need to enter into a written agreement and provide:

• death certificate;
• identification document of the applicant;
• title papers for land;
• cadastral plan.

After the assessment, the customer will be given a written document (act, report). Based on it, the notary subsequently calculates the amount of state duty payable for issuing an inheritance certificate.

The assessment of the land plot is also of a paid nature. The heir will pay 350 rubles for obtaining a cadastral extract. For a commercial assessment you must pay from 1000 rubles.

Real estate

In addition to an apartment or residential building, heirs may also receive other real estate. For example, a garage, cottage or industrial building.

The amount of the state duty does not depend on the category or type of real estate. The only difference is the package of documents and the procedure for their execution.

Also, for commercial buildings the cost of an appraisal company's services may be significantly higher.

Automobile

The amount of the mandatory fee when registering a car is similar to that when registering real estate. To calculate the final amount, you need to order a vehicle appraisal.

Vehicle evaluation takes place exclusively in commercial organizations. Before concluding a contract, it is necessary to clarify whether the appraiser has a license to carry out work.

In addition, the assessor must be a member of the SRO.

After the inheritance certificate is issued, the new owner of the car must visit the traffic police department at his place of residence for subsequent registration. After registering the car, the owner will have to pay an annual transport fee. It depends on the technical parameters of the car.

Useful information

There is no need to pay real estate tax when inheriting an apartment. Sometimes the decision to sell an inherited apartment is made by the heir himself, and sometimes such a transaction is a necessity: there are several applicants, each is entitled to shares and it is necessary to divide the proceeds. And it seems possible to do this only after the sale of the property.

In essence, by receiving an inheritance, you become the owner not only of real estate, but also of a certain financial income that it represents. If the apartment is inherited, this type of income is not subject to taxation by the state, regardless of:

• presence of relationship with the testator;
• grounds for receipt: legal or by will.

If the living space has not been privatized, it cannot be passed on as inherited property to relatives, either in the order of priority of the total number of heirs or according to a will. An apartment that is part of a cooperative can be inherited only if it is no longer necessary to pay a share for it.

The law does not establish a specific list of persons who are completely exempt from the need to pay tax on the sale of an apartment. But every homeowner must regularly pay utility bills, despite the fact that inherited apartments are not subject to tax.

Inheritance taxes by law (without a will)

The procedure for registering an inheritance estate according to the law is slightly different. If the will clearly shows who the heir is, then the law contains only the order of applicants.

Each of them must independently take care of submitting documents to the notary on time. A will also gives priority rights of inheritance to a specific person or group of people. Whereas the law distributes property taking into account the degree of relationship.

Can count on inheritance without a will:

1. The parents, surviving spouse and children of the deceased person.
2. Brothers/sisters, grandparents.
3. Uncles/aunts.
4. Other relatives.

Submission of documents is carried out within six months from the date of death of the person. You need to contact a notary office at the place of residence of the testator.

The cost of certifying an application for inheritance is 100 rubles. The second time they turn to a notary to obtain a certificate of inheritance.

The state fee must be paid before receiving the papers. Its size is the same as when drawing up documents under a will:

The amount of the fee for heirs (spouse, children/parents, brothers/sisters) cannot exceed 100,000 rubles. The maximum payment amount for other applicants is RUB 1,000,000.

What categories of citizens do not pay state duty?

The following persons do not pay this amount to the notary:

1. heroes of the USSR;
2. participants and disabled people of the Second World War;
3. Knights of the Order of Glory;
4. heroes of the Russian Federation.
5. who lived with the deceased at the time of death in a house, apartment, or plot of land that is inherited;
6. heirs of those who died while performing official or public duties, or died within one year from the date of injury, illness, injury;
7. those who inherit:
   bank deposits;
8. accounts of individuals;
9. insurance amounts;
10. salaries;
11. payment for copyright work and remuneration;
12. pensions.
13. incompetent;
14. minors.

To prove your involvement in one of these groups, you need to confirm your words with an official document.

Example No. 4 . Sorokina A.V. bequeathed that after her death the apartment should become the property of her friend, S.A. Dolgova. According to the cadastre, the cost of the apartment is 1 million 234 thousand rubles. Dolgova S.A. must pay 0.6% x 1,234,000 rubles = 7,404 rubles as a duty. But it is also possible that she would not pay anything at all, since for the last 4 years she lived with Sorokina, helping her with the housework. She is not registered in the apartment, which means she has no documentary evidence of cohabitation. However, she can turn to witnesses (for example, neighbors) for help so that they can confirm with a notary the fact that her friends live together. If there are no contradictions in their testimony, the notary can take them into account, then Dolgova S.A. will be exempt from state duty.

Parallel expenses

What payments are assigned to legal successors besides state duty? The duty is far from being the only expense item that falls on the heirs.

Additional costs

Litigation

Registration of property rights

other expenses

If a deceased person left a mortgage, then along with the housing, the debts of the testator are transferred to the applicants. Paying off the loan may be beneficial if the market value of the home exceeds the debt. Otherwise, it will be more profitable for the heirs to renounce their property rights.

Inheritance tax

It is necessary to take into account taxation when selling property that has been owned for less than 3 years:

1. For residents, the personal income tax amount is 13% of the value of the property . You can reduce expenses by submitting an application for a tax deduction to the Federal Tax Service. If there are several applicants, the deduction is distributed in proportion to their parts (fractional ownership) or by agreement of the parties.

Example. The two sisters were left with the apartment in equal shares. After 1.5 years they decided to sell it. The cost of housing was 2,500,000 rubles. When submitting the declaration, they declared the right to receive property compensation. The income of each heir is 1,250,000 rubles. The deduction amount was 500,000 rubles. per person. Calculation of the amount of tax that is subject to withholding from each owner - 1,250,000 - 500,000 x 13% = 97,500 rubles.

To take advantage of the refund for the previous period, you must submit a tax return by April 30 of the current year.

All subsequent expenses of citizens are associated with ownership, use and maintenance of property.

The obligation to pay tax ends 3 years from the date of inheritance.

1. For non-residents, the personal income tax amount is 33% of the transaction amount . It cannot be changed after 3 years. A non-resident heir is required to pay tax regardless of the period of ownership of the property.

FAQ

I inherited an apartment. What tax should I pay if I sell it 6 months after legalization of ownership?

Answer: The citizen will have to contribute personal income tax to the budget in the amount of 13% of the amount of income received as a result of the sale of real estate.

Do I need to pay tax if I sell a home that was inherited without a will 4 years ago?

Answer: In this case, the tax deduction will be equal to the cost of housing, that is, after the sale of this apartment there is no need to pay anything.