VAT refund. What is Income Tax Refund

19.10.2019

Not all officially employed citizens have information about their right to a tax benefit, which makes it possible to return the income tax they paid. Return income tax possible in cases where the expenses incurred were directed to the purchase of housing, as well as to social needs according to a special list.

Since there are no strict deadlines for filing documents for a tax deduction, in order to avoid significant costs time, it is more expedient to apply to the tax office after the submission of annual reports by other taxpayers, that is, at any time during the calendar year from May to December. The law provides the opportunity to receive a tax deduction for previous years, but not more than three years. recent years and if there is a certificate of income for the relevant period.

According to the established regulations, for verification tax return a period of 1 month is set and, in the absence of errors, within 3 months the payment of the due amount will be made to the personal account of the taxpayer. Usually, cash are received within a period of not more than 6 months from the date of submission of documents.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the income tax refund procedure, although it seems, at first glance, to be rather complicated and time-consuming, is undoubtedly necessary and beneficial for taxpayers. Moreover, today there are a sufficient number of offers of professional accountants and firms on the market that provide such services at quite affordable prices.

Documents for income tax refund in infographic

The figure below in the infographic discusses the types and types of tax deductions, which documents must be provided in addition to 3-personal income tax and income tax refund applications for various practical situations ⇓

Every working citizen of our country pays. The tax rate in Russia on income in the form of wages is 13%. It does not matter whether a citizen is employed, contracted or is an entrepreneur - the obligation to pay personal income tax is defined for all recipients of labor income. At the same time, the individual entrepreneur calculates the amount of tax payable himself, and for those who work under an employment or civil law contract, personal income tax is considered and transferred to the budget by the employer or employer - as a tax agent.

Every resident of Russia knows about the obligation to pay income tax, but few are aware of the fact that part of this tax can be received back. The system works like this: if you spend money on certain needs, you have the right to receive a tax refund from the state, i.e. 13% of the cost.

However, this mechanism has many conditions and limitations.

Firstly, money can be spent not on anything, but only on really important purchases: charity, pension and health insurance, and improving housing conditions.
Secondly, each category of costs has its own rules and limits - that is, you cannot present a check for a breast augmentation operation for 1 million rubles to the tax authority. and receive 130 thousand rubles in return. For each type of cost there is a maximum, above which the state does not return income tax. And there is a closed list of expenses - if the expenses do not fall into it, then you will not receive money.
Thirdly, only the one who pays it can receive. An unemployed student will not receive a tax deduction because he does not have income that would be taxed at a rate of 13%. But a pensioner who rents an apartment to a student and honestly declares her income has the right to claim a tax refund. Another nuance is that the income must be official. The “white” salary is 10 thousand rubles, and in the envelope the boss gives another 50 thousand rubles. - then, for a tax refund, consider only 10 thousand rubles. For the deduction, not only labor income is important, but also income from the rental of property or its sale. Again - if you honestly declare these incomes.
Fourthly, tax refund is possible only within the amounts you paid. Suppose you have calculated that you have the right to count on a tax refund in the amount of 30 thousand rubles, but at the same time, personal income tax for the year was withheld from you by only 20 thousand rubles. In this case, the tax will be refunded only in the amount of 20 thousand rubles. The exception is the tax deduction declared, which is carried over to subsequent years.

Please note that receiving a tax refund is your right, not your obligation. No one will call from the tax office and remind you of this - it is believed that you yourself are directly interested in exercising your right to property and other tax deductions.

Usually, the issue of returning personal income tax, which was previously withheld from the income of an individual, arises in cases where a citizen has the right to property or social deduction. After all, standard deductions - (clause 4, clause 1, article 218 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) and (clauses 1, 2, clause 1, article 218 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) - as a rule, are provided to the employee by the employer. And few people have to separately apply for them to the IFTS.

Accordingly, those who spent money on, (clauses 2, 3, clause 1, article 219 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), or bought housing (clause 3, clause 1, article 220 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), can first of all apply for income tax refunds. A social deduction can also be provided for certain other expenses. For example, if you made donations to charity (clause 1, clause 1, article 219 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

By the way, the question is often found on the Internet whether it is possible to return income tax on the purchase of a car. The answer to it is negative.

How much income tax can be refunded

By general rule the amount of the returned personal income tax is determined as the amount of your expenses (housing, education, etc.), but within the maximum limit, multiplied by 13%. That is, in the Tax Code for deductions, restrictions on the amount are established. For example, a social deduction for the education of a child (clause 2, clause 1, article 219 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). And even if you spent much more on his education more money, a deduction will be provided in the amount of 50,000 rubles. The tax deduction in 3-personal income tax will also be reflected in the amount of 50,000 rubles. And you can return a maximum of 6500 rubles. tax (50,000 rubles x 13%).

How to get income tax refund for the year

At the end of the year in which your expenses arose and for the income of which you want to declare a deduction, you need to send a declaration in the form 3-NDFL (approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated 03.10.2018 N ММВ-7-11 / [email protected]) and a set of documents to your IFTS at the place of residence. The deadline for filing a 3-NDFL declaration for deduction is not set (except when, in addition to the deduction in 3-NDFL, you declare income on which you must pay tax). But do not forget that an application for a tax refund, attached to the declaration, can be submitted within 3 years from the date of its payment (clause 7, article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

What documents to apply for income tax refund

Documents for income tax refund are primarily documents confirming your expenses, due to which you are basically entitled to a deduction. These are contracts and payment documents.

As already noted, a declaration in the form of 3-NDFL also belongs to the mandatory documents. It must be issued for the period for which you claim the deduction.

Drawing up a declaration for the return of income tax is easiest to do in the program of the Federal Tax Service of Russia. It can be downloaded from the website of the tax service.

Another document that will need to be sent to the tax authorities is an application for a refund of income tax (Appendix No. 8 to the Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated February 14, 2017 N ММВ-7-8 / [email protected]). You must specify in it, including the details of the account to which you would like to receive return of personal income tax.

How to apply for income tax refund to the IFTS

You can submit documents to the inspection in person, or by sending them by mail in a valuable letter with a list of attachments. When submitting documents by mail, usually the tax authorities are sent the original declaration, an application for a tax refund and copies of other documents. In this case, the IFTS employees have the right to ask you to provide them with the originals.

To date, the Tax Legislation provides for many options for which you can get a tax deduction. To apply for a tax refund, you do not need to have special baggage of legal knowledge, the procedure is simple. And yet, read this section, and suddenly you have the right to receive additional income from the state.

It is perhaps difficult to meet in our country a person over 18 who is unfamiliar with the abbreviation personal income tax. Income tax individuals or income tax affects all officially employed citizens.

According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the vast majority of income in our country is taxed at a rate of 13%. Except wages, it concerns:

income from private teaching or other type of consulting;
income from the sale of property or vehicle for rent;
income from the sale of property owned by the specified owner for less than 3 years (before 2016) or 5 years (after 2016), etc.

There are other types of income, such as winnings in advertising campaign. They may be taxed up to 35%, and the law does not provide for a refund from these amounts.

Keep in mind that even if you have other income with a special tax base, the deduction is only available on income subject to a 13% rate.

What is a tax deduction and how to get it

By definition, a tax deduction is the amount on which the 13% tax will not be paid. Let's look at a few options for how this can be done in practice.

Reducing the tax base

For example, your salary is 25,000 rubles. Every month you are given a deduction of 1,000 rubles. In practice, this means that 13% personal income tax will not be deducted from the entire salary of 25,000 rubles, but from the amount reduced by the deduction, that is, from 24,000 rubles.

Return per year

We considered the situation when the deduction is provided monthly. In some cases tax office applies the mechanism when a year is taken for the reporting period. That is, you receive a salary during the year and pay 13% personal income tax - everything is as usual. At the end of the year, you submit tax documents confirming your income, the right to a deduction and the taxes paid, and you are immediately refunded the amount that you overpaid to the state.

Return monthly

It is possible that there is no need to wait until the end of the year to use tax break. The money can be returned monthly from the employer. To do this, you also need to submit documents to the tax office and get confirmation of your right to a tax deduction. After that, the accounting department of the enterprise will cease to withhold personal income tax for a certain period. And so your right to a deduction is exercised.

There are 5 types of tax deduction:

standard;
social;
property;
professional;
associated with losses on operations with securities.

We will look at the first four most common types of tax deductions.

standard tax deduction

This tax credit is a fixed amount, regardless of your income, and is granted monthly. There are 2 situations for this type of deduction:

Having children in care

For the first and second child, parents or guardians are granted a deduction in the amount of 1,400 rubles, for the third and other children - 3,000 rubles. Deductions are provided until the child turns 18 years old, and if the latter studies at a university full-time, the period will last up to 24 years.

If there is a disabled child in care, then the amount of benefits is greater. Since 2016, they have been set at 12,000 rubles. for parents and 6,000 rubles for guardians or foster parents.

The benefit will end when your total income since the beginning of the year reaches 280,000 rubles (after 2016 - 350,000 rubles). And in the new reporting period, payments will continue.

Example. Vasily Vasechkin has two children - 9 and 10 years old. For them, he has the right to receive a deduction in the amount of 2,800 rubles in 2019, and his salary is 40,000 rubles. First of all, Vasily will receive the deduction from January to July inclusive, since in July the total income will be the coveted 280,000 rubles. Personal income tax during this period will be (40,000 - 2,800) * 13% = 4,836 rubles.

If Vasechkin had not made a deduction, he would have paid the state 40,000 * 13% = 5,200 rubles from his salary. net profit it turns out 364 rubles a month, and for 7 months he will receive a cash benefit of 2548 rubles.

Availability of one of the preferential categories

This includes "Chernobyl", disabled people of the Great Patriotic War, military personnel who became disabled in the service. They are entitled to a deduction of 3,000 rubles.

Heroes of Russia and the USSR, participants in the Second World War, former prisoners of concentration camps, disabled since childhood, "Afghans" - standard deduction 500 r. Full list categories is in Article 218 of the Tax Code.

social tax deduction

The provision of a social deduction is possible in the following cases:

expenses for education of one's own or children;
expenses for treatment, one's own or close relatives;
charity;
future pension contributions.

The “ceiling” for social deductions in total for treatment and education is 120,000 rubles. The exception is expensive treatment, from which the deduction is provided for the full amount.

Example. Vasily, having spent 50,000 rubles. for your education, 50,000 rubles. for the education of the child, 50,000 rubles. for his own treatment and 50,000 for the treatment of his wife, he will have to decide in which categories to receive a deduction.

He will be able to apply for income tax refunds only from the maximum amount (120 thousand rubles), regardless of reality (200 thousand rubles). The maximum refund amount for him will be 120,000 * 13% = 15,600 rubles.

It is also important for Vasechkin to know that the validity of this deduction is limited. Documents are submitted in the year following the one in which the expenses were incurred. That is, if payment was made in 2015, then the 3-NDFL declaration should be drawn up for this reporting period.

There is no need to postpone the preparation of reports, since it is possible to return the tax only for the previous 3 years. For example, in 2019, declarations for 2018, 2017 and 2016 are accepted. If the training or treatment was earlier, then it is impossible to issue a refund.

If the personal income tax paid for the year does not allow you to receive the deduction in full, the balance burns out.

property tax deduction

Since 2001, happy newcomers can take advantage of the property tax deduction and get back part of the money spent. The same 13% of the purchase amount is subject to return, excluding maternity capital and other benefits.

A property deduction is provided if:

purchase of a finished apartment (house, room) or a plot for construction;
buying property with a mortgage;
housing construction.

The law implies limits on the maximum payout amount for everyone who decides to take advantage of this opportunity.

Firstly, the amount from which personal income tax is returned cannot exceed 2,000,000 rubles.

Example 1. Suppose that someone Vasily Vasechkin bought an apartment worth 5 million rubles. He will be able to make a deduction for 13% of 2 million - 260,000 rubles.

Example 2. If Vasechkin bought a room for 500,000, 13% of full cost housing - 65,000 rubles.

Secondly, the maximum amount that the owner will receive in one year is limited. It should not exceed the amount of income tax paid by the owner to the budget for this period.

Example. Suppose Mr. Vasechkin receives an official income of 15 thousand rubles. For a year, he will pay personal income tax in the amount of 15,000 * 13% * 12 months = 23,400 rubles. Exactly how much he will return for the purchase of housing in the current period. The rest of the due deduction will go to next year and so on until full payment.

In all other respects, a citizen of the Russian Federation who has income subject to personal income tax and is not an individual entrepreneur with special tax rates is entitled to a property deduction.

professional tax deduction

individual entrepreneurs(whose income is taxed at a rate of 13%!);
lawyers and teachers in private practice;
authors who receive remuneration for their works;
contractors providing services.

Provided for a reporting period equal to one year.

An interesting feature of this deduction concerns entrepreneurs. Let's return to Vasechkin, who has already acquired the status of an individual entrepreneur. For him, the tax deduction will be calculated from business expenses - the purchase of materials, wages to subordinates, etc. If Vasily can justify the expenses with documents, he will receive a deduction for the entire amount of expenses. But if he does not have the necessary checks, Vasily can use the right to a deduction in the amount of 20% of his income.

For the return of income tax for works of art, there is also a fixed rate in case the author cannot confirm the expenses. This rate ranges from 20 to 40%. For example, if our Vasily writes a book and receives 40,000 rubles as an author, he can claim a deduction of 20% of this amount without inventing any expenses for creating a masterpiece.

Can I get a tax deduction

Not only possible, but necessary. After all, it is not at all difficult to do this!

If there is some misunderstanding or you just don’t want to understand all the subtleties yourself, entrust this issue to professionals. To do this, leave an application for filling out an income tax return declaration. And within a few hours you will receive a completed 3-personal income tax form, which you will need to take to the tax office and wait for the money to be received on your current account.

So, a tax deduction is the right in a number of situations to receive previously paid personal income tax. Taxpayers return part of the funds spent on various purposes, or receive an additional increase in income. This opportunity does not require any investment, so there is no reason to miss it.

Everyone knows that we are obliged to pay personal income tax from each income under an employment or civil law contract to the budget. But the possibility of income tax refund in certain provided by law cases, very few use it, and this is primarily due to ignorance regarding the rights of taxpayers, prescribed in tax code.

The main tax document of the country provides whole line personal income tax deductions related to the latter's expenses for the acquisition of real estate, payment for medical services or education. In such situations, every citizen Russian Federation, having income subject to personal income tax at a rate of 13%, is entitled to apply for a refund of income tax. Of course, the right to a deduction requires compliance with a number of formalities and the availability of documents confirming these expenses.

How to refund income tax: refund principles

You can present for deduction not the entire amount of expenses incurred, but only a part of it, corresponding to the previously paid 13% of income tax. The return on the total amount at the end of the year cannot exceed the amount of tax deductions for the same reporting period.

For example, let's say that the amount of personal income tax transferred by the employer for the year was 10 thousand rubles, and the estimated amount of compensation for treatment is 13 thousand rubles. In this case, the actual amount of compensation cannot exceed the amount of tax paid, that is, 10 thousand rubles.

From this follows a completely logical conclusion: only those citizens who, in principle, paid this tax, can apply the deduction and return the paid personal income tax. Thus, students, the unemployed and non-working pensioners who do not have income taxable with income tax, will not be able to realize such an opportunity. According to similar principles, individual entrepreneurs who apply a simplified taxation system or pay a single tax on imputed income cannot receive a refund.

Income tax refund: for what period

How long does it take to submit documents for registration of my right to a deduction? At least the year in which such a right arose must end. But if, in the presence of an obligation to pay personal income tax (for example, when selling property), an individual is obliged to comply with the deadlines for filing a declaration established by the Tax Code (until April 30 of the year following the reporting year), then when claiming the right to income tax refund, until what date to submit documents to the IFTS , doesn't matter. You can, among other things, file a deduction immediately for a couple of years - this will save at least time for an extra trip to the IFTS.

In general, the statute of limitations for applying for a tax deduction is not defined, that is, an individual payer of personal income tax has every right to declare his right and with a delay, later than the date of the event, suggesting the possibility of a deduction. However, you still need to remember about the three-year period during which the application of the deduction is in principle possible. Actually, the IFTS has the right to do any checks of tax deductions for a period of three years, not counting the current one. The personal income tax deduction declared by an individual also leads to a recheck of the accruals, therefore, the general time limit in this case must also be observed.

So, in 2018, you can claim your right to a deduction for the tax paid for 2015-2017, if there were appropriate grounds for this period. If the event that gives the right to a tax refund occurred earlier, for example, in 2014, but following the results of this period, the taxpayer did not declare his right to a deduction, then the opportunity to return the tax paid in 2014 is lost. However, the right to deduction itself is not canceled, but may well be used in addition to income and tax withheld from them for subsequent periods. That is, it is still possible to use the right to return personal income tax, which arose in 2014 and earlier, but according to the income of the last three years.

Of course, it is necessary to submit a declaration for the return of income tax on education or treatment or on the acquisition of real estate for each year.

For a tax deduction in the case of buying an apartment, there is an additional nuance when returning income tax. Changes in the Tax Code since 2014 have made it possible to repeatedly apply for a refund of the deduction paid within the established amount for several properties. According to the current legislation, for housing registered in ownership before 2014, you can get a deduction of up to 2 million rubles, that is, return the paid personal income tax in the amount of 260 thousand rubles. Any unused balance within this limit is forfeited as there is a "link" to the use of the right of deduction for only one real estate transaction. When buying an apartment or residential building after 2014, the unused balance of the deduction amount can be used later when buying another property.

Return of personal income tax when solving housing issues

So, now the maximum amount of tax deduction for the purchase or construction of housing is 2 million rubles, or 260 thousand "net" tax refund. If the deduction has not been fully used, its full balance can be received in the future.

The return of income tax when buying a home is prohibited in terms of paying for the purchased apartment at the expense of maternity capital. It is not possible to deduct under contracts of sale between spouses, parents and children, brothers and sisters.

Right to property deduction arises not only during the purchase, but also during the construction of a residential property. However, in this case, income tax refund is allowed only when building a house with the status of individual housing construction. Without confirmers given fact documents and on the basis of only invoices and checks for building materials and construction works controllers will refuse.

There are additional features when applying for an income tax refund when equity participation. A deduction when buying a home in a house under construction is possible only after signing the act of acceptance and transfer of the apartment - this document confirms the very right to real estate. By the way, if it is written that the apartment is being sold without the necessary finishing, you can also issue a property deduction for finishing services and finishing materials.

Return on social deductions

Deductions related to medical expenses, as well as tuition fees, are referred to as the so-called social tax deductions for personal income tax (Article 219 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In the first case we are talking about expenses for the treatment of one's own, spouse, parents. It is also possible to refund income tax to parents who pay for the treatment of minor children. Treatment should be carried out in institutions, organizations or individual entrepreneurs engaged in medical activities in accordance with the list of medical services approved by the Government of the Russian Federation.

Another reason for personal income tax deduction- tuition costs educational institution having an appropriate license or other document that confirms the status of an educational institution.

Deductions are allowed for the payment of own education, education of children and siblings. So it's not just about getting higher education, you can apply for a refund of income tax for training in a driving school, kindergarten, art school, circles and sections, etc.

The total amount of social deductions, that is, the amount due to which it is possible to reduce the tax base for personal income tax for the reporting year, is 120,000 rubles per year. If during one calendar year the total amount of expenses exceeded this limit, and a person paid, for example, both treatment and education, then he himself can choose which specific costs and in what amount to take into account within the established limit.

However, there are exceptions that may go beyond this limit on social deductions. These are, for example, expensive procedures (from a separate list of medical services). On them, the deduction for personal income tax can be applied without limiting the amount.

The costs associated with the education of children are also taken into account separately. If payment for educational services for oneself, as well as for brothers or sisters, is deductible only within the mentioned limit of 120 thousand rubles, then the deduction for the expenses for education of relatives or wards is limited to an alternative limit - 50 thousand rubles a year, and for one child.

Thus, under appropriate circumstances, following the results of one tax period, an individual can simultaneously submit documents for a social deduction within the usual 120 thousand rubles, and also declare the return of 6,500 rubles of personal income tax (this is exactly 13% of 50,000 rubles) for each of his children.

Formation of income tax refund

An individual declares the right to receive a personal income tax deduction by submitting a certain package of documents to the IFTS at the place of residence, namely:

declarations 3-NDFL;
certificates from work on income and withheld taxes for the relevant tax period (2-NDFL);
copies of documents confirming the expenses incurred (contract of sale, contract for the provision of services, etc.);
copies of payments (receipts, Bank statements etc.);
application for income tax refund (you can download it on the website of the Federal Tax Service).

Tax inspectors check the received documents for two, and more often three months. After that, within another month, the tax refund itself is made.

Return through employer

The deduction can be obtained not only directly from the IFTS, but also through the employer. The main difference between these two options is that through the tax there is a one-time return of income tax in the total amount for the year. Through the employer, payments can be stretched for the whole year: the amount of the monthly personal income tax will be returned, which the employer will not deduct from the employee's income until the latter reaches the amount of the declared deduction.