In all countries of the world, owners of movable and immovable property pay taxes to the state for their material assets. In Russia there are also similar taxes:
- transport - paid by the owners of land, water and air transport;
- property – applies to owners of residential premises, as well as other buildings, structures, structures and premises;
- land.
Taking into account the rather low level of well-being of the majority of pensioners, the VKreditBe.ru website posted on its pages a number of materials for the elderly with specific tips and recommendations for avoiding this type of taxation or reducing the amount of payments legally.
In this article we will talk about whether pensioners are exempt from paying land tax, and if not, is there an opportunity to reduce the amount of payments.
Short answer
At the legislative level, all owners are equal - be it a young owner of a cottage with a land plot of several hectares or an old man with a country house on land of several hundred square meters. They all must pay the appropriate tax.
But it is impossible to compare the income of working citizens and people of retirement age with modest social benefits called pensions. Therefore, the Duma, at the instigation of the President, made changes to the Tax Code: a tax benefit for pensioners appeared. Its essence is that this category of citizens does not pay tax on 6 acres of land.
Let's show how this works with an example. Pensioner T. has real estate in the form of a dacha and a garage, built on a plot of land with an area of 10 acres. In accordance with the new rules, land tax will be charged only on 4 acres (10-6).
Benefits for summer cottages for pensioners in Moscow and the Moscow region
Land tax for pensioners in the capital and region is charged to all owners of plots. Only some Moscow residents are exempt from paying land tax on an amount not exceeding 1 million rubles:
- disabled since childhood;
- persons with disability group 1 or 2;
- disabled people and combat veterans (including the Great Patriotic War);
- parents with many children (adoptive parents);
- persons injured as a result of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
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For pensioners - owners of summer cottages living in the Moscow region, certain benefits are also provided. The size of the preference and categories of recipients are determined at the municipal level, for example:
Locality | Pensioner category | Amount of discount |
Odintsovo | Not working | 100% |
Ivanteevka | Poor | 100% |
Living alone | 50% | |
Pavlovsky Posad | Living alone | 100% |
Korolev | Unemployed elderly people permanently residing on a plot of no more than 1200 square meters. m | 50% |
What is land tax paid for?
The objects of land tax assessment for pensioners are plots of land that belong to them by right of ownership or are in free use on an indefinite basis (the main feature: can be passed on by inheritance).
In this case, the plots must be located within the same municipality and have a cadastral number in the unified land register indicating the area, delineated boundaries on the map, category of land allotment and coordinates of each boundary pillar.
Land tax is not charged:
- leased;
- transferred for free use on an urgent basis;
- included in the forest and water resources of the Russian Federation;
- under objects of culture, history, archeology included in the UNESCO list;
- withdrawn from circulation completely or having restrictions (national parks, nature reserves, military bases, prisons, colonies, camps, burial grounds, cemeteries).
Who pays land tax
Land tax is paid by individuals and legal entities who own and use land plots. The basis for payment are notifications in written (sent by mail) or electronic (visible in the Personal Account on the Federal Tax Service website) form.
Payment is made in accordance with the deadlines approved by regional entities, but not earlier than February 1 of the year following the reporting period. Those. For 2020, land tax can be paid after 02/01/2020.
Do pensioners pay land tax?
Do pensioners have to pay land tax? Yes, because In the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, all owners and users of land plots are indicated as land tax payers, regardless of their age and status (residents or non-residents of the Russian Federation).
Is land tax mandatory for pensioners to pay in 2020?
This category of citizens is not recognized at the federal level, but in most cases can count on local preferences.
As a general rule, land tax is paid by those who own land. This issue does not concern tenants.
The procedure for calculating land tax is to use the following data:
- the accepted tax rate (which cannot exceed 1.5%, and in some cases - 0.3%);
- cadastral value per square meter of land;
- land area.
As already noted, the position of federal legislation does not consider citizens who have retired as applicants for receiving any benefits. The only exceptions are military pensioners, regardless of what law enforcement agencies they served in.
However, this tax refers to local fees, so the rules for its calculation and collection are prescribed in regional legislation and may differ depending on the location. At the local level, authorities most often take a different position regarding whether pensioners should pay land tax. In this case, regional authorities introduce a clause exempting people of retirement age from paying this fee.
Land tax benefits for pensioners
Tax benefits for pensioners for paying land tax can be of several levels and are prescribed not only in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
Federal benefits
Exemption of owners of movable and immovable property of retirement age from payment of relevant taxes can be carried out on the basis of various Federal Laws and the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Thus, various federal laws provide exemption from land tax:
- heroes of the USSR and Russia;
- WWII participants;
- Chernobyl survivors (military, specialists and workers who participated in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident);
- blockade survivors - people who survived the siege of Leningrad;
- disabled people of groups 1 and 2, etc.
Attention: a complete list of persons exempt from paying all types of property taxes on the basis of the Federal Law can be viewed on the Federal Tax Service website.
In addition, representatives of small indigenous peoples living in the northern regions of the country, Siberia and the Far East, as well as their communities that use land plots to preserve and develop their ethnicity: way of life, crafts, management, but already on the basis of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
Also, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides benefits for all types of pensioners in the country in the form of reducing the area of the land plot on which the tax is calculated by 600 square meters. m (clause 5 of article 391 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
A reduction in the tax base (tax authorities call a tax deduction) is carried out in relation to 1 plot of land. At the same time, the pensioner retains the right to make a choice if there are several plots of land, regardless of the category of land, type of use (ownership or perpetual free use) and location.
Let us illustrate this with several examples.
1. Pensioner L. has two plots: 500 and 700 m2 It seems more logical to make a deduction from 7 acres. But the cadastral value of a smaller plot is almost 2 times higher. Therefore, an application is submitted to deduct 5 hectares from a smaller plot and 1 hectare from a larger one. The law allows such manipulation.
2. Family couple A. of retirement age own 12.6 acres of land under a private house in a rural area. They are registered to the head of the family. You had to pay for 660 m2 of land. On the advice of the tax inspector, they re-registered the plot for two: the husband 6.6 acres, the wife exactly 6 acres. As a result of this operation, the tax base was reduced to 60 m2.
Important: with the increase in the retirement age, from 2020, deductions for paying land tax for women remain from the age of 55, for men - from the age of 60.
Local benefits
Land tax is a municipal type of taxation. This means that the Legislative Assembly of federal entities, as well as the cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sevastopol, can establish additional benefits for pensioners, as well as other categories of taxpayers, for example, exempt labor veterans, members of a gardening partnership, persons , over 80 years old, etc.
You can find out about the existence of additional benefits in each region here or call tel. 8 800-222-22-22 (Federal Tax Service contact center).
Are pensioners really exempt from paying land tax?
Since the beginning of 2020, Russian pensioners have been included in the list of categories of persons who are granted the right to use benefits for paying land tax.
If previously benefit recipients were entitled to a tax deduction in the amount of 10 thousand rubles, then after the introduction of taxation depending on the cadastral value of the land plot, while maintaining the previous size of the benefit, the owners of the plot would find themselves in a deliberately disadvantageous position (after revaluation of the cadastral value of land, land prices and, consequently, taxes on it have increased significantly). The legislative authorities took this into account and decided to provide a benefit in an amount equal to the cadastral value of land ownership.
Today, pensioners who own plots of no more than 600 m2, regardless of their cadastral value, are completely exempt from the need to pay land tax.
The Tax Code contains a provision that local authorities have the right to establish land tax benefits for pensioners to a greater extent than they are provided for by federal legislation, up to complete exemption from the tax burden. Each municipality addresses this issue differently. For example, pensioners in St. Petersburg do not have to pay land tax if the area of their plot does not exceed 2500 m2.
Thus, pensioners are completely exempt from the obligation to pay land tax if their land plot has an area of no more than 600 m2. Local authorities may establish expanded benefits for this category of citizens.
Procedure for applying for benefits
Benefits for paying land tax are of a declarative nature: if there is no corresponding application to the tax and duties inspectorate, there are no benefits. This statement also applies to the federal deduction from the tax base in the amount of 6 acres.
Registration of benefits is carried out in several stages:
- an application is written to the Federal Tax Service for the provision of benefits;
- documents are collected;
- the application, along with the collected documents, is transferred to the Federal Tax Service, and to any one, not just at the place of residence.
Statement
If you plan to visit the tax office in person or send documents by mail, an application for a land tax deduction must be completed on paper. Previously, it was written in free form. Since 2020, a sample form developed by the Federal Tax Service has been in effect (you can download it here).
It must indicate:
- name of the Federal Tax Service where the application is submitted;
- Full name of the payer and his residential address;
- cadastral number of the land plot;
- the basis for its use;
- grounds for obtaining a deduction or exemption from payment;
- attached list of documents;
- date of writing and signature.
Completing a package of documents
To receive a deduction you need only 3 documents:
- statement;
- photocopy of the main pages of the passport;
- copy and original of the pension certificate.
Taxpayers and objects of taxation
Pensioners are not given full tax exemption. The basis for this may be other conditions, for example, the classification of older people as federal beneficiaries. The object of taxation is the cadastral value of the dacha plot.
Important: a different type of tax is charged for a garden house or other construction project - property tax.
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Transfer of documents to the tax office
There are several ways to submit documents to the Federal Tax Service:
- during a personal inspection visit. The method has both pros and cons. The disadvantages include the loss of time. There are several advantages:
- You don’t have to fill out an application - the inspector will type it on the computer.
- An answer will be given immediately regarding acceptance of the deduction or refusal.
- All mistakes made when filling out the papers yourself will be detected and corrected.
- The visitor can personally verify that the deduction has been accepted.
- through MFC. The procedure is paid, but frees you from routine work (the application will be filled out by a service employee in the presence of the client);
- with the help of a legal representative with a power of attorney certified by a notary;
- by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt. It must contain a list of the attached documents, and copies of the passport and pension book are certified by the head of the post office.
The development of IT technologies allows you to use one more method: through your Personal Account on the Federal Tax Service website. Instructions are presented in detail, with photographs, in the work “Transport Tax for Pensioners.”