What is the state duty for reducing and changing the amount of alimony in 2021 and how to calculate it

According to the court decision, the plaintiff must pay monthly child support in the amount of 20 thousand rubles. In the first months, payments were received in full. But soon the man was fired from his job. There is no money, the “covens” bring in pennies, and it’s impossible to find a new job. To prevent the debt from accumulating, the man decided to seek a reduction in alimony through the court. Moreover, the payer has such an opportunity - Art. 119 SK.

In order for the court to consider the issue of changing payments, submit a corresponding application and pay the state fee to reduce alimony. I’ll tell you how to calculate it correctly in the article. By the way, if you file a claim and make a mistake with the amount of the fee, it will not be considered.

What are the methods for calculating the state duty to reduce the amount of alimony?

Russian legislation does not have clear instructions on how to calculate the state duty when filing a claim to change the amount of alimony. Therefore, in practice two calculation methods are used:

1. Based on the value of the claim.
2. Fixed amount.

What legal norms to rely on when calculating the cost of a claim?

According to Art. 91 Code of Civil Procedure, Part 6, the price of a claim to reduce the amount of payments is determined based on the amount by which the payment is reduced (but not more than for a year). According to lawyers (but not all lawyers), the claim is of a property nature, so the state duty should be paid based on its price.

Expert opinion

Chizh Yana Fedorovna, lawyer

More than 10 years of legal experience. More than 400 won cases. More details

Many courts take the position that demands for a reduction in the amount of alimony and exemption from their payment should be considered property, subject to assessment.

Then we comply with the conditions of Part 1, Clause 1, Art. 333.19 of the Tax Code, which indicates the following amounts of state duties:

• If the price of the claim is up to 20 thousand rubles. — 4%, but not less than 400 rubles.
• From 20,001 rub. up to 100 thousand rubles. — 800 rub. + 3% of the amount exceeding 20 thousand rubles.
• From 100,001 rub. up to 200 thousand rubles. — 3,200 rub. + 2% of the amount exceeding 100 thousand rubles.
• From 200,001 rub. up to 1 million rubles — 5200 rub. + 1% of the amount that exceeds 200 thousand rubles.
• Over 1 million rubles. — 13,200 rub. + 0.5% of the amount exceeding 1 million rubles. (but not more than 60 thousand rubles).

What is the fixed duty?

Some courts accept claims to reduce alimony based on a non-property duty, which is equal to 300 rubles. - according to Art. 333.19 part 1 clause 3 Tax Code. When preparing a case, court officials believe that the demand itself, and not the claim, is subject to a fee.

Naturally, it is more profitable for the applicant to pay 300 rubles than to calculate the fee for the claim (let me remind you that the minimum payment is 400 rubles). Therefore, you can file a claim by paying 300 rubles and wait for the result. If the judge does not accept the application, then simply pay the missing amount, calculating the cost of the claim.

Expert opinion

Chizh Yana Fedorovna, lawyer

More than 10 years of legal experience. More than 400 won cases. More details

This advice is based solely on established judicial practice. If the court decides that the state fee should be paid from the price of the claim, then nothing will prevent the applicant from paying the missing amount. But as practice shows, a large number of claims are accepted by the court with a paid fee of 300 rubles.

Essence of the question

Alimony refers to payments in favor of close relatives who are unable to support themselves (minor children, disabled parents, grandparents, disabled people, and so on).
The list of relatives who may qualify for financial assistance is given in the Family Code of the Russian Federation. Changing the amount of alimony or the procedure for its payment in court is allowed only if there are compelling reasons for doing so. They can serve as:

• decrease in disposable income;
• serious illness of the alimony payer, disability;
• the appearance of new dependents by the debtor, for whom claims for alimony payment are also made;
• a significant increase in disposable income, due to which payments received for the child on the basis of previously reached agreements no longer correspond to the required amount of alimony;
• receipt of payments by a child who already has an independent income;
• other grounds provided for by the current legislation.

The reasons listed above may serve as a basis for going to court to revise payments either upward (such claims are usually filed by recipients of funds) or downwards (this is most often requested by alimony payers).

Link to document:

Who must pay the state fee when filing a claim to change payments

The state duty is calculated and paid by the plaintiff. If a decision is made in your favor, you also have the right to demand reimbursement of legal costs from the defendant - Art. 98 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. Whether this is ethical or not is another question.

Expert opinion

Chizh Yana Fedorovna, lawyer

More than 10 years of legal experience. More than 400 won cases. More details

Many defendants are confident that the plaintiff will not be able to recover the amount of the state duty from them, since they are exempt from paying the duty in cases of alimony collection and in this case they also do not have to pay. This opinion is erroneous and for claims to change the amount of alimony the state duty is paid - this is a different category of cases.

When the amount of payments increases, the plaintiff also pays the state fee, even if he is the mother of the child.

Refusal and return of application

Even if the payer has filed an application to reduce the amount of alimony, a sample of which has been drawn up in accordance with the law, there is a chance that the document will not be considered in court due to refusal to accept it. This happens in the following cases:

• The claim was filed in court without jurisdiction.
• Previously, the applicant had already filed a similar claim to reduce alimony payments, and there is a court decision on it that has entered into legal force.
• The claim was filed by a person who was not authorized to do so. To ensure that everything is in accordance with the law, you must first issue a power of attorney.
• The plaintiff is declared incompetent and cannot act on his own behalf independently.
• The plaintiff decided to file another application - to return the original claim.

If the court rejected the claim unlawfully, the applicant has the right to file an objection to a higher authority.

State duty on a claim to reduce the amount of alimony - what you need to remember

When determining the price of a claim to reduce the amount of alimony, follow the rules of paragraphs. 6 clause 1 art. 91 Code of Civil Procedure. The cost of the claim is the amount by which payments will be reduced. Take into account a period of up to one year. Multiply the result by the number of percentages from Art. 333.19 Tax Code and add a fixed amount (indicated in the same article of the code).

Important. If you pay fees through online services, pay attention to the commission. If it needs to be added separately to the amount of the duty, then if a couple of rubles are missing, the claim will be left without progress.

Expert opinion

Chizh Yana Fedorovna, lawyer

More than 10 years of legal experience. More than 400 won cases. More details

Underpayment of the state duty is grounds for leaving the statement of claim without progress - Art. 136 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. The court will issue a ruling indicating the period within which the plaintiff must make the additional payment. If you do not comply with the judge’s instructions within the prescribed period, the statement of claim will be returned to you, but this is not an obstacle to going to court again.

If the state fee is underpaid, the court will leave the statement of claim without progress.

Required documents for the claim

In order for alimony to be reduced and the court to accept the application for consideration, the following list of documents must be attached to it:

• Completed claim application.
• Documents proving the validity of the requirements: certificates from medical institutions, certificates of large families, the birth of a second child, a court decision to place a minor in a state institution, etc.
• Certificates of registration and divorce.
• Children's birth certificates.
• Receipt for payment of state duty.
• Notarized power of attorney, if interests are represented by a trusted person.
• Salary certificates.
• Detailed calculation of alimony. Even if a citizen is unemployed, payments are assigned in accordance with the minimum wage, but not below the subsistence level.

How to calculate state duty - examples

Expert opinion

Chizh Yana Fedorovna, lawyer

More than 10 years of legal experience. More than 400 won cases. More details

In accordance with paragraphs. 2 p. 1 art. 333.20 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the price of a claim for a request to reduce the amount of alimony should be determined according to the rules of clause 6, part 1, art. 91 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. For claims for exemption from alimony payments - under clause 7, part 1, art. 91 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.

Let's look at how to calculate the duty for alimony paid in a fixed amount and as a percentage of income.

Example 1 - calculation of state duty when reducing alimony in a fixed amount

Alexey pays 15,000 rubles monthly. In his claim, the man asks to reduce the amount of payments to 12,500 rubles, since a child was born in a new marriage and financial difficulties arose.

How to calculate the duty:

1. We determine the benefit for the year that Alexey will receive: (15,000 - 12,500) x 12 = 30,000 rubles. This is the cost of the claim.
2. We calculate the duty using the formula from Article 333.19 of the Tax Code: 800 + 3% of the amount that exceeded 20,000 rubles. So: 3% of 10,000 rubles is 300 rubles. 300 + 800 = 1100 rubles.

Alexey will pay 1,100 rubles when filing a claim in court.

Our article is about reducing alimony in a fixed amount.

Example 2 - if alimony is a share of income

It's a little more complicated here. They calculate either by average income for the past year or by potential income for the current year.

Calculation of the duty to reduce alimony based on average income

For the initial amount to calculate the duty, we take the income for the past year. Let’s say Andrey pays child support for three children in the amount of ½ of his earnings. And then the man had another child. The alimony payer asks to reduce the amount of payments to ⅓ of the amount.

Andrey’s income for the year is 380,000 rubles. Now let's start with the calculations.

1. 190,000 rubles - alimony withheld for the year.
2. ⅓ of the amount of income is 126,540 rubles.
3. 190,000 - 126,540 = 63,460 rubles.

So, the price of the claim will be 63,460 rubles. Next we calculate the duty.

1. 800 rubles + 3% - we use this formula.
2. We calculate: 63,460 - 20,000 = 43,460 x 3% = 1,303 rubles.
3. 1,303 + 800 = 2,103 rubles.

It turns out that the duty amount is 2,103 rubles.

To correctly calculate the cost of the claim, first calculate the amount of alimony for the year

Calculation of approximate income for the current year

This method is used if no more than 3 months have passed in the current year. The plaintiff asks to reduce the amount of payments from ⅓ to ¼ of earnings.

For three months of the year, the income of the alimony payer was:

• 15,000 rubles - in January.
• 25,100 rubles - in February.
• 16,000 rubles - in March.

It turns out that the total income for three months is 56,100 rubles, and the average monthly income is 18,700 rubles. 18,700 x 12 months. = 224,400 rubles. This is the potential average income for the year.

Let's start calculating the duty:

1. If the payer pays ⅓ of income, then the amount of alimony for the year will be 74,800 rubles.
2. Alimony in the form of ¼ of income will amount to 56,100 rubles for the year.
3. The price of the claim is calculated as follows: 74,800 - 56,100 = 18,700 rubles.
4. Next, we take 4% of the claim price (according to clause 1, part 1, article 333.19 of the Tax Code) - this is 748 rubles.

This will be the amount of the duty.

Calculation of the state duty to reduce child support at the birth of a second child

The couple divorced when their daughter was 8 years old. The father began paying alimony in a fixed amount - 16,000 rubles per month. Two years later, the alimony payer had a son - now he provides for his wife on maternity leave and a child, so he cannot pay monthly alimony in the same amount.

The man decided to reduce the amount of payments by transferring alimony from a fixed amount to a shared one (% of salary). The payer's salary is 40,000 rubles. For one child you should pay 25%, which is 10,000 rubles.

The price of the claim is determined as follows: 16,000 x 12 months. = 192,000 rubles - this is how much the ex-wife received in a year. If the court decision is positive, the annual payment amount will be: 10,000 x 12 = 120,000 rubles. Finally, 192,000 - 120,000 = 72,000 rubles.

Now we calculate the state duty: 72,000 - 20,000 = 52,000 - we will take this figure for calculation, according to Art. 333.19 Tax Code. Next 52,000 x 3% = 1,560 rubles. Finally, 1560 + 300 = 1860 rubles - this will be the amount to be paid.

Read more about the procedure for reducing payments for a second child in our article.

Procedure for transferring funds

Paying the state fee is not difficult: today there are many ways to do this. Among them:

• payment in cash at the office of any bank;
• cashless transfer in self-service terminals;
• transfer of funds through the official website of a credit institution using the “Personal Account” service;
• payment in cash at the post office.

There is no fee for transferring payments to the budget.

To make a transfer using the correct details, it is recommended to take a sample of filling out a receipt from the court office or request it from a bank specialist. When paying, you must pay attention to the correctness of entering data in the following fields of the payment document:

• payment ID (if any);
• name of the recipient of funds;
• his TIN/KPP;
• BIC GU of the Bank of Russia;
• current account of the budget recipient;
• KBK;
• Full name, tax identification number, payer address.

There are usually no difficulties when filling out a document; the only thing the plaintiff needs in this case is attentiveness and scrupulousness.

The state fee must be paid before filing a claim. If there are no supporting documents (terminal check, receipt with a bank mark, payment order, etc.), the documents will not be accepted for consideration.

What circumstances help reduce the amount of alimony?

Alimony payments will be reduced if the payer’s financial or marital status has changed - Art. 119 SK. Thus, the alimony holder has the right to demand a reduction in payments if the following circumstances exist:

• The payer had a second child.
• The alimony worker lost his job.
• Required to pay child support for other children.
• The payer has been declared disabled and needs expensive medical care.
• The alimony payer's income has decreased significantly.

Note. It is possible to change the amount of payments only in court. Parents cannot agree on a reduction without fixing it by law. If payments are made under an alimony agreement, then in order to reduce it, it should be adjusted and certified by a notary.

In order for the court to satisfy the claims, the plaintiff will need to prove the grounds for reducing payments. For example, provide a certificate from your place of work, a document confirming the assignment of disability.

Loss of a job is a basis for reducing the amount of alimony payments

Trial

Appear at the date and time appointed by the court, even if the summons to your name has not yet arrived in the mail (you can find out about the date of the hearing by phone). Your current spouse should not appear at the court hearing if the summons has not arrived in her name - she “does not know” that you have filed a lawsuit. If the current spouse is notified by the court of the date and time of the court hearing, she can either be present at the court hearing in person, or write an application to the court to consider the case without her personal participation. The court will not oblige her to attend court hearings.

During the process, insist on satisfying the claim in full on the grounds set out in the claim.

In short

1. In practice, two methods of paying state duty are used - in a fixed amount (300 rubles) and at the cost of the claim. But if you pay a fixed price, the application may be returned, in which case you will have to pay the price of the claim.
2. When paying according to the claim price, refer to Art. 333.19 Tax Code. First, they calculate the cost of the claim - this is the difference in the annual alimony payment based on the amount that the plaintiff paid and the amount that he wants to pay. Then you should make a calculation based on the resulting size - calculate the percentage, add a fixed amount.
3. If it is impossible to calculate the cost of the claim because there is no data on income for the previous year, then it is calculated based on the estimated income for the current year (it is important that there is information on income for the first three months).

Have you had experience reducing the amount of alimony? Did the court accept the state fee of 300 rubles or did it have to be calculated based on the value of the claim? Share your experience with our readers.

Possible benefits

Art. 333.36 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation determines the circle of persons entitled to benefits when paying state fees. But often certain categories of citizens are exempted from duties only on certain issues.

For example, combat veterans do not pay state duty only if the consideration of the claim is regulated by the Federal Law “On Veterans”, pensioners – if the defendant is the Pension Fund or Non-State Pension Fund.

But in 2021, some categories of citizens have benefits when going to court, even to reduce alimony:

• If the claim is filed on behalf of an incapacitated citizen;
• Disabled people of groups 1 and 2.

Regulatory framework

The state duty is calculated based on the articles of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Additionally, the norms of the Civil Procedure Code are taken into account. The following table will help you get acquainted with the legislative framework in more detail:

Additionally, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with cases from judicial practice and examples of calculating state duties. If you cannot calculate the amount of the fee yourself, it is better to contact a lawyer.