At the expense of tax revenues, the federal budget is formed, with the help of which the state fulfills obligations related to ensuring many areas of public and social aspects of the lives of citizens. The amount of tax payments depends on the amount of income received by the person. However, for pensioners it is usually limited by their pension allowance, from which it is difficult to allocate funds to pay taxes for the use of property and transport benefits. Tax benefits allow you to save your budget for normal life support.
What tax benefits are pensioners entitled to and what regulations provide for the provision of such benefits? We will answer these questions in detail in this article.
What tax benefits are available to pensioners?
Pensioners have the right to work and enjoy benefits on an equal basis with citizens of working age. However, due to limited income, tax deductions from pension benefits can negatively affect the state of the family budget of a person of retirement age. In order to maintain a decent standard of living for pensioners, government officials are concerned about preserving their funds by providing tax benefits. These include:
- transport;
- land;
- property
The category of citizens of retirement age who can count on tax privileges, as well as the procedure for their appointment, are discussed in tax legislation. Some aspects of the application of benefits are regulated by regional regulations.
Land tax benefits for pensioners
All tax benefits are divided into 3 types:
- Exemption of citizens from paying land tax.
- Reduction by 10,000 rubles. tax base (the amount from which the tax is calculated).
- Benefits that are established by municipal authorities.
Only persons related to:
- Small peoples of the North, Far East and Siberia.
- Peoples who use lands to preserve and develop traditional lifestyles, farming and crafts.
The tax base may be reduced for persons who, in accordance with Part 5 of Art. 391 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation are:
- Heroes of the Soviet Union.
- Heroes of the Russian Federation.
- Full Knights of the Order of Glory.
- Veterans and disabled people of the Second World War.
- Veterans and disabled combat veterans.
- Disabled children.
- Disabled people of group 1.
- Disabled people of group 2, and disability of this group must be awarded to them before the beginning of 2004.
Documents for registration of benefits
A person can apply for benefits by submitting an appropriate application to the tax office at the location of the land plot (Clause 10 of Article 396 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Along with an application for a reduction in the amount of land tax, a citizen of retirement age will need to submit:
- passport;
- title documents for a land plot acting as an object of taxation.
To clarify the specific list of documentation required to apply for benefits, a citizen will need to contact the tax office at the location of the land plot.
Fringe benefits
The Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not contain specific norms that exempt pensioners from paying taxes or give them the right to pay tax at a reduced rate, however, legislative acts of municipal authorities often provide in their norms a number of additional social benefits addressed to persons of retirement age.
For example, some municipal authorities provide pensioners with discounts on land tax if these citizens have permanent registration in the municipal area.
A number of government bodies guarantee benefits to those citizens of retirement age who do not have a place of employment or are registered in residential premises built on the territory for which the pensioner pays a mandatory tax.
Registration of benefits
After a citizen of retirement age has provided the authorized tax inspector with a complete package of documents for obtaining a tax benefit, the official checks the received documentation.
If the information recorded in the documents is true, and the documents are recognized as authentic, then the land tax is recalculated.
Such recalculation should cover the time period starting from the moment the citizen’s rights to benefits arise. If a citizen submits an application and additional documents to the tax office for registration of benefits untimely, then the recalculation period is limited to 3 years.
Transport tax
All vehicle owners are taxpayers. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation regulates the right of local authorities to establish benefits for Russian citizens at their discretion. The law defines a preferential category of persons for whom a discount of up to 100% is provided on the payment of transport tax. Each region has approved lists of specific types of vehicles that are eligible for the benefit.
Regulatory sources in some regions do not determine the right to tax exemption or interest rate reduction for old-age pensioners. A prerequisite for the privilege is their belonging to groups of citizens receiving a pension of a social nature or for special achievements before the state.
Amount of benefit
The tax rate depends on the vehicle engine power. Local authorities have the right to reduce the parameter to a value less than ten times less than the original value. The law does not oblige the state to provide privileges to certain categories of citizens; issues of benefits are decided by local authorities. In some regions, all pensioners enjoy 100% transport tax benefits, while in others, privileges are provided based on special conditions, implying a specific make of car, engine power or labor characteristics of the applicant.
Example. Andreev Petr Grigorievich lives in Novosibirsk. He owns a Lada Priora car with an engine power of 98 horsepower. In this region, pensioners pay 20% of the total transport tax. In 2021, the tax rate per horsepower is 5 rubles. The total amount of transport tax corresponds to 5*98=490 rubles. In accordance with preferential rates, Andreev must pay 490 * 0.2 = 98 rubles
Who is completely exempt from transport tax?
The following may be completely exempt from taxes:
- veterans and disabled combat veterans;
- heroes of the USSR and the Russian Federation;
- disabled people;
- citizens with awards and orders;
- parent of children from a large family;
- persons affected by radiation or man-made disaster.
The list of applicants for benefits may be expanded or reduced by local authorities. In order to be able to take advantage of the privilege in a timely manner, you should regularly study legislative innovations, since the benefit is not automatically applied. To assign it, a citizen must personally contact the Tax Service with an application and a set of documentation justifying the request.
More detailed information on the procedure for assigning and registering transport tax benefits for pensioners can be found in the article at the link.
Types of benefits
Land tax benefits are divided into federal
and
locals
.
Federal benefits are established by the Tax Code and are applied throughout the Russian Federation.
The list of these preferences, however, is quite narrow, and, unlike property tax, pensioners are not included in it
.
Only indigenous residents of the Far East, North and Siberia, as well as their communities (for those areas that are used by them for national fishing and traditional way of life), are completely exempt from paying land tax.
The right to reduce the tax base by 10,000 rubles. have:
- Heroes of the Soviet Union, Russian Federation, full holders of the Order of Glory;
- Disabled people of the first and second disability groups;
- Persons affected by radiation and suffering from radiation sickness as a result of accidents at nuclear and nuclear facilities, as well as during testing of nuclear weapons.
Thus, only as a pensioner, a citizen will not be able to receive a federal benefit. However, if he is disabled, a hero of the Soviet Union or the Russian Federation, or a victim of radiation, he will be able to take advantage of the preference granted to him by federal legislation.
Land tax
Land tax is charged on all land plots owned by citizens. Its size is determined by the cadastral value, and can correspond to up to 1.5% of its value. Only persons leasing land or using it on the basis of perpetual ownership are exempt from payment.
The Tax Code contains a list of persons entitled to claim preferential taxation. The legislative norms do not contain provisions defining pensioners as a separate category of citizens entitled to land tax benefits.
Certain provisions of federal regulations define the possibility of local authorities to establish privileges at the regional level for pensioners by introducing sections into internal laws on their exemption from land taxation or on the application of a reduced tax rate. If a pensioner is a permanent resident of the Far East, North and Siberia or lives in the northern territorial part of the state for the purpose of folk crafts to preserve the traditional way of life, then he is automatically exempt from paying taxes on land.
The Law recommends a category of citizens for whom the tax can be reduced by 10,000 rubles:
- combat veterans belonging to any power structure;
- disabled people;
- persons affected by radiation exposure or man-made disasters.
If the Tax Code does not contain provisions regulating preferential privileges, then the retiree should inquire about local regulatory sources. If he is entitled to tax privileges, their effect does not arise automatically. To receive benefits, you must declare your desire to use them to representatives of the Tax Service.
You can learn more about the procedure for assigning and registering this benefit in the article “Land tax benefit.”
Land tax benefits
Based on the cadastral value of the land, the amount of land tax is calculated, the rate of which is set at 0.3-1.5% of this figure. It depends on who is the owner of each specific site - an enterprise, a partnership, a private owner, etc. Municipalities have the right to set their own rates, but only within the limits specified in the law. The legislation defines land taxes as a mandatory payment that replenishes the local budget. All land owners must pay them.
The Land Code specifies the categories of citizens who are entitled to benefits. The law provides detailed information regarding land taxation of enterprises. In accordance with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Chapter 31), everyone who owns land plots (companies and individuals, including pensioners) on the right of perpetual use are obligatory payers. Citizens who own land as tenants and have the right to use the land for a certain time free of charge are not taxed.
The Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Article 395) contains a short list of categories that have the right to preferential taxation, or are completely exempt from paying it:
- indigenous peoples, small in number, living in the North, Far East, and Siberia;
- northern peoples, for whom the land serves as a means of preserving their characteristic way of life and conducting their folk crafts.
The legislation does not provide for other preferential categories to which preferential taxation could be applied. This also applies to pensioners, who must also pay for land on a general basis without fail.
Property tax
The procedure for property taxation of individuals is determined by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The document regulates the exemption from taxes of certain categories of persons, including pensioners.
The tax benefit applies to the following real estate:
- apartment;
- house;
- room;
- premises;
- construction;
- outbuildings;
- garage;
- parking space
Representatives of local authorities have the right to establish additional discounts, expanding the list of persons who can use them, or objects to which the privilege applies. The pensioner is exempt from paying taxes starting from the month in which he became entitled to use the benefit. To register it, you must contact the Tax Service with an application to apply for a privilege in connection with being classified as a preferential category. The event must be carried out before November 1 of the year, which is the tax period from which the benefit will apply.
More detailed information on the procedure for assigning and registering such a benefit for pensioners can be found in the article “Property tax benefits for pensioners.”
Land tax: features
- Calculated from the cadastral value of the site. If it is revalued, the amount may increase up to 1.5 times.
- In most regions of Russia, the amount of cadastre value far exceeds the market value of a plot of land.
- Tenants of the site are exempt from the tax.
- The cadastral value may be reduced by court decision. To do this, the applicant must prove that it exceeds the market price of the land. An independent assessment will be required.
- Preferential categories of persons are mainly established at the local level. So in Yekaterinburg, pensioners, including working people, are exempt from tax.
- The tax must be paid by 1.10. Failure to pay will result in fines and penalties.
- In the future, land and property taxes will be combined.
Are there tax breaks on the sale of real estate?
A burning question: should a pensioner pay taxes on the sale of real estate in full? Alas, yes, it should - there are no benefits provided here. On January 1, 2021, the minimum period of tax-free ownership of residential properties was increased from three to five years (for properties that were registered in ownership starting in 2021). If a retiree received property after 2021, the easiest way to avoid paying tax on the sale of such property is to wait until five years have passed. After this period, you will not be required to pay tax or file a tax return.
You will find detailed rules and examples in this article.
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