Tax refund

Citizens of Russia often hear about tax deductions as students, when they are just starting to work. As a rule, this comes with the words: "Wow, did you treat your teeth for a fee? Make a deduction!" or "Take receipts and certificates, make a deduction to your father, you study on a paid basis, and he pays for you." And most people treat this practical advice with negligence and completely ignore the tax refund - the opportunity to return their own money. The motive is as simple as possible: long, paperwork, bureaucracy, it is easier to earn money during this time. In vain: according to tax legislation, Russian taxpayers have many privileges. The main one is the right to a refund of part of the paid personal income tax (PIT). And sometimes we are talking about quite large amounts. Let's take a closer look at what it is and why it is important not to miss the moment.

How to claim a tax refund?

In fact, applying for a tax refund is not difficult.

Step one. Make sure one of two conditions is met:

1. you have incurred one of the legally required expenses: built a house, bought a home, took out a mortgage, treated or treated relatives, bought prescription drugs, paid for your education or the education of a relative, etc.;
2. you paid any income tax for the current calendar year.

Step two. Go to the tax office where you live and ask for a list of documents that need to be collected to receive a tax deduction. Your individual situation may require some specific documents, but the following are usually required:

• income statement for the calendar year
• a document with a TIN number or just a TIN number
• documents confirming your expenses (checks and other papers)
• supporting documents for paying for services and buying things (contracts, certificates, etc.)
• tax return
• your bank details to which the refund will be transferred (card details).

Also, the tax office will offer you to apply for a tax deduction.

Step three. At the time of writing the application, you need to choose a convenient option for returning the tax deduction from those available in accordance with the law:

1. one-time payment for the whole year - you just get the money due to you on the card
2. monthly payments - get the amount in shares
3. reduction of the tax base - just do not pay part of the tax or the entire tax in the near future.

In all cases, the amount is the same, you need to choose a more acceptable option for you.

Step four. Submit your documents and application and start waiting for your tax refund. The amount of the period after which you will receive your money depends on the option you choose to receive a refund.

However, in our age of speed and endless employment, when every minute counts and finding time to visit the tax office between studies, work, sports and family does not work at all, you can simplify the procedure several times. Just entrust this red tape to professionals (for example, BCS employees). They will help you collect a package of documents for any tax deduction, transfer some of the actions online (that is, you can do something right during a break at work), and most importantly, they will prepare a tax return for you (Have you tried filling it out? What a quest!) . At the same time, you will save time, and the cost of the service will pay off many times over with the money that you will return (it’s a joke to say up to 15,600 rubles for studies (even in a driving school) and up to 390,000 rubles for interest on a mortgage loan).

How can I get a tax refund?

You can get a tax refund in two ways.

The method is chosen only by you based on your wishes or other rational reasons.

That is, in fact, you choose between receiving a deduction from the tax authority or receiving a reduction in the tax base from your employer. Although the choice is yours, we still note a few important points. If you receive a deduction from your employer (in other words, do not pay personal income tax as part of the deduction), you do not need to fill out a tax return, the tax authority considers your issue faster, you will receive a refund faster (from the next month after the decision of the tax authority). However, this option is not beneficial for you if the salary is small (the rest of the deduction will go to the next year and all documents will have to be re-issued) or if you are going to leave the company (only one of the employers pays the deduction).

The option of receiving a deduction from the budget (from the tax authority) is beneficial for you if you work in several places, if you have two deductions at once (for example, property and social). But remember that you will have to fill out a tax return, you need to collect personal income tax-2 certificates from all employers (not necessary), the deduction approval process takes a long time.

What are the tax deductions?

The legislation of the Russian Federation provides for three types of tax deductions: property, social and charitable. It is worth considering all types, because despite the name, we all fall into the category of each deduction at least once.

If you purchased or improved your home at your own expense, you are entitled to property deduction. This includes the actual purchase of an apartment, cottage, house, land, repayment of interest on a mortgage loan and the construction or repair of a residential building. The amount of the deduction is calculated as 13% of the expenses, but does not exceed 260,000 rubles. That is, if you purchased an apartment for 8 million, you will still receive a deduction no more than the specified amount. The property deduction is calculated once, but can be charged for different purchases (for example, for a cottage for 500 thousand rubles, and then for a studio for 1,300 thousand rubles)

social deduction will be refunded to you for the costs incurred when paying for social services and services, which include the treatment of yourself or your loved ones at your expense (for example, dental treatment), the purchase of medicines by prescription (relevant for expensive medicines), life insurance for a term of 5 years, any training on a paid basis (and it doesn’t matter where - at a university, at courses, even at a driving school). In this case, you must also calculate 13% of the amount of expenses incurred, but the deduction is already limited to 120,000 rubles for the entire time (but not more than 15,600 per year). The law provides for cases when the restriction on the deduction is removed completely - for example, in the case of expensive treatment in clinics in other states.

Charity Deduction- Another type of spending for which a tax refund is due. Spending is calculated as the sum of all voluntary donations. The return limit is 25% of your income for a calendar year. The list of charity goals is quite wide: from non-profit organizations to various foundations and even religious organizations (not prohibited by law). However, it is always better to check all the nuances and types of charitable purposes with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

And, of course, one cannot fail to mention investment deduction, which is due to private investors working with an individual investment account. The obvious advantage of IIS is the ability to receive a tax refund. There are two types of investment deductions:

1. reduction of the taxable base of personal income tax (personal income tax) by the amount that was paid to the IIA for the year (but the deduction amount should not exceed 52 thousand rubles);
2. full exemption from taxes on income received from IIS. At the time of closing the account, the investor is exempt from paying personal income tax on all income received on the account (if there were no other tax deductions).

In addition to these three "general civil" types, there are also deductions due to preferential categories of citizens by family or professional status. You can find out if you are one of them at your place of work, at the tax office at the place of residence, or at the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Articles 218 - 221 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Pitfalls in tax refunds

In principle, as we have already said, there is nothing complicated in making tax deductions. However, there are pitfalls with tax refunds that you need to pay special attention to so as not to be left with nothing and not miss out on the benefits.

	You cannot receive a deduction in an amount exceeding the personal income tax you paid. However, the entire due deduction will still be paid, it is simply transferred to the next calendar year.
	The property deduction can be used to pay off mortgage interest. By the way, in this particular case, the deduction limit increases from 260,000 to 390,000. This is very important for those who use a mortgage.
	Even if you apply for a deduction to professionals, be sure to familiarize yourself with the content of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - perhaps you belong to privileged categories of persons and are entitled to other forms of tax refund.
	It is imperative to follow the rules for processing documents to receive a tax refund, including initially, when buying or receiving a service, save and check the correctness of filling in and attributes of contracts, checks, and other payment documents.

Thus, the main thing is that you have the right to a refund of the funds you paid, which means you receive additional income. And our advice: do not be lazy to use this right. The amount may pleasantly surprise you.