Statute of limitations for tax deductions for the purchase of an apartment

Tax deductions have no statute of limitations, but not everyone knows about this. You can receive a deduction only if there were income tax deductions during the reporting period, and if there were none, then you should not apply for a refund. But you can receive it not year after year, but after some time, as soon as official income appears.

Payout Basics

Almost every citizen who bought a home has the right to reimbursement of part of the funds spent on it.
But before you claim your rights, you need to understand all the legal aspects of returning a property tax deduction. Objects covered:

Residential buildings, apartments, shares in an apartment.
Land plots, their shares on which the object is located.
Land intended for construction.

In addition, the tax deduction can include costs incurred for the purchase of building materials and renovation of the apartment (provided that it was rented out unfinished or rough). It is also allowed to compensate funds paid for the development of the project for work on connecting communications.

Important! All these costs can be included in the deduction only if there is documentary evidence that they had to be carried out. That is, if the purchased apartment has a fine finish, but you simply don’t like it, you shouldn’t count on reimbursement of the funds spent on repairs.

Statute of limitations for tax deductions - how many years in advance can you get it?

Tax deductions are considered the main financial advantage when buying an apartment, paying for education, treatment, etc. In this case, the tax deduction has a certain statute of limitations.

The state, taking into account all expenses, helps the residents of its country by returning a partial amount of money. This is called a tax deduction.

Property deduction – what is it?

Property tax deduction is a government benefit that is provided to an individual when paying taxes after purchasing or selling property.

The relevant regulatory act for this phenomenon is the Tax Code - Article 220. This document provides comprehensive information regarding the procedure for application, the allotted statute of limitations and other nuances.

In practice, receiving a property deduction is precisely the return of income tax.

Who cannot count on a refund, regardless of the timing of the purchase of real estate

There are categories of persons who are not entitled to a deduction, among them:

A child who is under 18 years of age.
A student who does not have an official place of work.
A pensioner who has no taxable income. But he can have any income, and this is not necessarily a salary. The key requirement is that income tax be paid from it.
Individual entrepreneurs and legal entities.
Any persons having income that is not subject to 13% tax.
Those who bought property from a relative.
A person who is not a resident of the Russian Federation, that is, stays in the country for less than 183 days a year.
Those who do not have a certificate of title to housing.
If the apartment was purchased with the assistance of a social service, with government funds or subsidies, including maternity capital. If assistance in the purchase was provided by the employer.

Legislative acts

The Tax Code, in Article 220, regulates the procedure for obtaining a refund of tax funds when purchasing real estate. This indicates the procedure for filing a declaration no earlier than one year after purchasing the apartment.

The amount of the tax benefit is 13% of the total cost of an apartment worth no more than 2,000,000 rubles.

The procedure for postponing deadlines to other tax periods is defined in the sources:

Article 220.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
Article 220.2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
determination of the Constitutional Court of October 20, 2005, No. 387-O.

The listed legislative standards indicate that there are no restrictions on the terms of use of the specified tax benefit.

There is no statute of limitations

Indeed, there is no statute of limitations for property tax deductions. You can claim the right to it any time after purchase, even after 20 years. Regardless of the year in which the refund application was submitted, only the previous 3 years can be taken into account. That is, if the apartment was purchased in 2000, and the application for refund followed only in 2017, then the years 2013, 2014, 2021 are taken into account.

It is also worth knowing these points:

Real estate purchased before January 1, 2014 has a deduction base of 1 million, and not 2 as it is now. This means that you can return no more than 130 thousand rubles.
As for apartments and other housing purchased after this date, the deduction amounts are 260 thousand for own funds and 390 thousand for credit.

Examples

Citizen B bought an apartment in 2002, but for 5 years, that is, from 2002 to 2007, she worked unofficially, that is, she did not make income tax deductions, then she was on maternity leave for 6 years. In 2021, she officially found a job, which means she began to transfer funds to the state budget. From 2021, she has the right to claim tax deductions. But she didn’t know about this right when she found out in 2021 and filed a declaration and the entire package of documents. As a result, she may receive a deduction for 2021, 2021, and next year 2021 she may claim the underutilized amount. Naturally, she can count on no more than 130 thousand rubles.

Citizen G bought an apartment in February 2014, but then quit his job. He did not know about the right to deduction. I only found out in 2016, but at that time I was not working officially. Starting in 2021, I got an official job. He will claim the deduction only in 2021, but he will be able to include 2021 in the calculation. The amount he expects is a maximum of 260 thousand.

Legislative regulation of the issue

In accordance with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the taxable base includes :

worker's wages;
profit, the reason for which was a piece of real estate or a car (if the person owned it for less than 3 years);
copyright income;
profit received by renting out land or residential space.

In this case, we must not forget to comply with the following conditions :

preservation of receipts, cash orders, payment guarantees and other documentary evidence of repairs;
The purchase and sale agreement must include a clause stating that the property being purchased has not been subjected to finishing or renovation.

The property deduction is not limited in its application. That is, you can use the benefit at any time . There is only a limitation period for receiving personal income tax from the budget - 3 years.

If housing was purchased in 2011, and a citizen applied for a refund in 2015, then the personal income tax paid can only be received for 2014, 2013 and 2012. You can return the purchase tax no earlier than such a right has appeared.

We must not forget about the statute of limitations if the subject of return is interest on the loan, which sometimes arises at a later time. If a taxpayer sells property, he declares the benefit immediately - when he enters information about the income received in the declaration.

Various reasons for tax refund

Receiving a property return is not limited in time. take advantage of the standard tax deduction . Implementation is not possible unless the following steps are completed:

the employer has not received an application with a request for provision and the corresponding package of documents confirming the right to receive it;
the income received within 1 year exceeded the maximum amount - 350 thousand rubles. – in case of applying for a standard child tax deduction.

Every citizen has the right to a refund of overpaid tax, but only if the period does not exceed 3 years . submit documents for a refund of social deductions within 3 years from the time the expenses occurred.

The value can partly be called fixed, since the costs of medical services, medications and expensive types of medical care are determined by law. The deduction is based on expenses actually incurred , but cannot be greater than the total amount established for a particular financial year.

The statute of limitations for receiving a social deduction for treatment is 3 years . That is, income tax on the amount spent on medical care for yourself or your children in 2021 can be returned in 2017-2019.

The provision of social deductions, whether for treatment or training, is carried out annually. The limitation applies to the total amount of social deductions. Currently it is 120 thousand rubles.

A professional tax deduction is a procedure for reducing the taxable income received from any income-generating activity by the amount of expenses necessary to make a profit. You can apply for such a privilege:

entrepreneur;
a citizen performing work or providing a service in accordance with the contract;
author, inventor, designer, etc.

To receive a deduction, you must contact the tax office before April 30 and provide a completed declaration of income received during the past calendar year.

An individual who has become the owner of royalties also has the right to a refund of previously paid tax. The reason for the reward may be a scientific discovery, a literary work, an object of art, an invention, etc.

Restriction on submission of documents

A tax deduction is an amount that reduces the income received (tax base). That is, you need to pay tax only on the difference between the amount of income received and the amount of the tax deduction.

The same concept applies to the refund of previously paid tax. The reasons are as follows: purchasing a residential property, paying for expensive treatment or studying at a university.

To receive a deduction, you must submit certain documents to the tax office after the end of the calendar year . Within 3 months, appropriate checks are carried out, and then (if there is a positive result), the required amount is transferred.

Transfer deadlines

A taxpayer can count on a refund from the tax authority if in the past year he:

purchased real estate;
carried out repairs in previously purchased housing;
issued a targeted loan (mortgage loan);
paid for training;
used funds as a contribution for voluntary pension provision;
paid for treatment or health insurance.

General rules

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Each officially employed worker receives only 87% of his total earnings.

This is due to the mandatory payment of personal income tax by employers, amounting to 13% of funds paid to staff. It is this tax that the state allows to be returned when purchasing an apartment, reimbursing part of the costs incurred.

Who can issue a refund?

Every citizen who independently pays income tax for himself or whose tax agent is his employer has the right to a property deduction.

You can take advantage of the deduction if the following conditions are met:

having an official job and paying taxes on your income;
acquisition or construction of housing (rooms, apartments, private houses, their shares).

The following persons do not have this right:

those who have already exhausted the deduction previously;
who are not tax residents of the Russian Federation;
those who purchased living space at the expense of other persons, for example, an employer, the state;
who purchased housing from a close relative.

Some nuances are important to know for certain categories of apartment buyers. For example, if the purchase was made by parents for a minor child (the home is registered in the name of the son or daughter), then they can use the deduction for the child.

Standards for setting deadlines

The most common issues require separate coverage and emphasis.

From what year can I get it?

Let's find out for what period you can get a tax deduction for the purchase of an apartment. You can apply for the benefit one year after purchasing an apartment . For the employer - almost immediately, after registering the transaction and receiving the appropriate permission from the Federal Tax Service.

Statute of limitations

The legislation does not establish a period for prolonging the deduction for future tax periods . For past periods, refunds are assigned for no more than 3 years.

For what period of time is it issued?

Now it’s worth talking about for which years you can get a tax deduction when buying an apartment. Documentation for obtaining a deduction for the previous tax period .

When to submit a declaration?

The declaration in form 3-NDFL is submitted annually, until April 30 . It provides information for the past year.

Tax return in form 3-NDFL: form, example of filling.

Recipients

Who can claim tax deductions? Recipients are individuals and legal entities. It is important to comply with some conditions.

What is it about? In order for a citizen to apply for a refund for certain transactions, he must:

Officially work and pay personal income tax equal to 13% of income. Entrepreneurs working under patents or the simplified tax system cannot receive deductions.
Be a resident of the country. To do this, you must spend at least 183 days a year in the Russian Federation. The calendar period is taken into account.
Perform a transaction that involves providing a deduction. This will be discussed later.

In addition, it is necessary to comply with the deadlines for submitting an application for a refund. Otherwise, they will not be returned.

When and where to contact?

Article 220 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation establishes that you can apply for a property deduction to the Federal Tax Service no earlier than after the end of the current tax period. Therefore, for an apartment purchased in 2021, you can begin to reimburse costs only from 2021.

If desired, the buyer does not have to wait until the end of the year. The second option for providing a deduction involves the employer stopping paying personal income tax immediately after the employee purchases housing and applies for a refund.

The following distribution of property deduction is allowed:

by transferring it to subsequent tax periods (without any limits);
by shifting the tax period back.

The latter method involves the return of personal income tax for the purchase of housing no more than for the three-year period preceding the year of application for the deduction. If the entire amount is not returned within this time, the balance will be carried forward or canceled depending on the situation.

For future periods, restrictions are usually associated with the termination of income tax status. For example, the buyer of a living space may retire or stop working for other reasons. Consequently, the extension of this period is also not infinite.

List of documents

To return money from the purchase of an apartment through the tax authority, you need to prepare the following list of documentation:

The applicant's identification document (passport or other).
Documentary evidence of the completed purchase of a residential property (certificate of ownership, extract from the register, receipt for the transfer of money, bank payment order, etc.).
Certificate of income tax paid to the budget for the corresponding year (form 2-NDFL issued by the employer).
A tax return prepared by the taxpayer independently for a certain year on the appropriate 3-NDFL form.
Personal statement of desire to use the deduction, drawn up in free form (following the sample).

A sample income certificate in form 2-NDFL is here.
A sample application for a tax deduction is here.

Normative base

The procedure for providing tax deductions for the purchase of living space is regulated by Article 220 of the Russian Tax Code.

The following legal norms are devoted to postponing the deadlines for receiving deductions:

paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 220 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
definitions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation No. 387-O of 2005

These acts confirm the absence of legal limits on the time limits for using property deductions.

Restriction on submission of documents

The same concept applies to the refund of previously paid tax. The reasons are as follows: purchasing a residential property, paying for expensive treatment or studying at a university.

Restrictions

But that is not all. The thing is that all tax-type deductions (especially social and property) have their limitations. An endless number of refunds for certain expenses cannot be issued in Russia.

What does it mean? Deductions include payments:

property - 260,000 rubles (regular purchase of real estate) and 390,000 rubles (for a mortgage);
treatment and training - 120,000 rubles (and no more than 50 thousand rubles for the study of 1 person);
expensive treatment - the full amount of expenses.

Why know about these restrictions? To answer the question posed earlier as accurately as possible.

Deduction is...

What is a tax deduction? This is a unique opportunity to process a refund of part of the funds on account of taxes paid. We are talking about income tax. That is, an operation to reimburse money for certain actions. You can count on 13% of the amounts paid.

First, you need to remember that only certain people have the right to register it. In-country refunds are subject to specific conditions. Therefore, it is not always possible to bring an idea to life.

Terms and options for payment of funds

Return times depend on several factors:

Firstly, on the size of the salary. The larger it is, the faster it will be possible to reimburse expenses. For each year, the amount is returned within the limits of the personal income tax paid for the same year, the rest is carried over to future periods.
Secondly, the taxpayer has the right to file a deduction at his own choice - at the Federal Tax Service, at work.

In the first case, you are allowed to submit an application no earlier than the year following the year in which the living space was purchased. The money is credited to the account specified by the applicant immediately in the amount of the annual (or three-year) tax payment.

The entire procedure takes no more than 4 months, required for verification of documents (3 months) and direct transfer of funds (1 month).

The second option involves stopping the deduction of personal income tax from your salary immediately from the moment you contact the employer. In this case, there is no need to wait until the end of the year.

The deduction is valid until the balance is canceled or employment ceases. If you change jobs, the refund is restored from the next tax period.