Gift tax per year. Taxes on a gift under a donation transaction

Here we have tried to answer the most frequently asked questions related to taxes when donating property. You also can:

How will the tax office know that I have been given property?

All housing / land transactions are registered with the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography, and transactions with vehicles in the traffic police. And these services transmit information to the tax authorities.

A friend gave me a car. The donation agreement does not specify the price of the car. How do I know what income to include in the declaration?

You can indicate the estimated market value of the car, and in case of disagreement, the tax authority can already challenge this decision. You can also contact organizations or appraisers for an independent assessment.

I have been retired since 2014. I receive a pension, I have no other income. In 2019, under a donation agreement, neighbors gave me a country house with a land plot. Do I need to pay income tax?

Yes, you will have to pay a tax of 13% of the cost of the house and land, since the gift you received was not from family members or close relatives. At the same time, unfortunately, the current legislation does not provide benefits for the payment of this tax for pensioners. At the end of 2019 (until April 30, 2020), you need to submit a declaration to the tax office, and pay tax by July 15, 2020.

In 2019, my grandmother gave me an apartment. In February 2020, I received a letter from the tax office stating that I received real estate as a gift in 2019 and must pay taxes. What should I do?

In your case, you can send an explanatory note to the tax office stating that the income was received as a gift from a close relative (grandmother). Attach documents confirming your relationship to the letter - copies of birth certificates (your and the parent on the grandmother's line).

For my birthday, my friends gave me money in the amount of 500 thousand rubles by transfer to a bank card. Do I have to pay income tax?

No, you do not have to pay income tax, since income in the form of funds received from other persons as a gift is not subject to personal income tax. In this case, the form of payment does not matter - cash, non-cash, receipt of funds to a card account in a bank.

My brother and I, under a donation agreement, received an apartment from a cousin in common shared ownership (½ share each). The contract indicates the cost of the apartment is 1.6 million rubles. What tax will we have to pay?

Since you and your brother received an apartment in common shared ownership by ½ share, the income is calculated according to the value of the property in proportion to the share. The income of each of you amounted to 1,600,000 x ½ = 800 thousand rubles. Until April 30 next year, you and your brother must submit declarations in the form of 3-personal income tax, which will reflect the income from the gift. And before July 15 next year, you and your brother will have to pay income tax in the amount of 800,000 x 13% = 104,000 rubles.

Can my wife or other relative file the declaration for me?

Your wife or other relative can only file a declaration if she has a notarized power of attorney on your behalf. However, she can always mail the declaration on your behalf (see below).

A donation is a transaction carried out on a gratuitous basis. That is, neither the donor nor the donee pay money under the contract. However, the property transferred as a gift is subject to taxation. We will tell in the article whether it is necessary to pay tax on donating an apartment to a relative in 2018-2019.

So, from a legal point of view, donation is a transaction when the donor transfers or undertakes to transfer property to the donee in the future for free. The acquisition of an apartment as a gift implies an economic benefit for the new owner of the property, and therefore requires the payment of a tax payment. Simply put, this is the profit received as a result of the fact that the donee saved money that he would have transferred to the seller when buying a home on his own.

After registration of ownership in Rosreestr, it becomes necessary to pay real estate tax to the Federal Tax Service. Legislation provides for exceptions when the obligation to pay tax does not arise. There are two such cases:

The donation agreement is concluded between close relatives or persons recognized as family members from the point of view of the law (clause 18.1 of article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
The donee under the contract is a consular employee or a member of his family (Vienna Convention on Consular and Diplomatic Relations).

All other persons are liable to pay gift tax.

Property gift tax to a close relative

First you need to figure out who legally belongs to the category of close relatives. According to Article 2 and Art. 14 of the RF IC, close relatives and family members are recognized:

spouses;
parents and children (equally relatives and adopted);
grandparents and grandchildren;
brothers and sisters (equally full and half-blooded).

No tax is payable on gifting an apartment to a close relative in the category listed above.

For the purpose of exemption from payment of gift tax, it is impossible to classify other relatives as family members. Even the fact of cohabitation or the fact that the donor is dependent on the donee and vice versa is not taken into account.

Therefore, no payment will be made. However, after the donee enters into the right of ownership, it should be taken into account that he will have an obligation to pay property tax (Article 400 and Article 401 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Is tax paid when donating an apartment to a distant relative?

cousins and second cousins;
brothers and sisters of the spouse;
nephews (including grandchildren);
spouse's parents;
great aunts and grandparents;
other relatives.

In the case of a donation of an apartment or other real estate, the listed persons will need to transfer a tax in the amount of 13% of the value of the gift. The tax payment is transferred to the Federal Tax Service by the gifted person.

However, there is one significant nuance. The donee under the contract must be a resident of Russia. This means that a distant relative must have a general passport of the Russian Federation and reside in Russia for at least six months annually. Otherwise, the relative loses the status of a resident, and taxation on donated property will be carried out at an interest rate of 30%.

Tax when donating an apartment in 2018-2019 for individuals: rate and calculation

The tax rate when donating an apartment in 2018-2019 is 13% of the cadastral value of the apartment. The cadastral value is taken into account on the date of drawing up the donation. Based on this, it is not recommended to prescribe the price of the gift in the donation or to prescribe this information according to the cadastre.

For example, the cadastral value of an apartment at the time of donation is one million rubles. The gift tax in this case will be 1 million x 13% = 130 thousand rubles. Similarly, the tax is calculated not for the entire apartment, but for a share in it.

The Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation raised the issue of obliging citizens to pay tax not on the cadastral value, but on the market value of real estate, which can be significantly higher. However, this initiative was rejected by the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation. To clarify the legislation in the field of taxation, the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation approved the Review of the practice of consideration by the courts of the Russian Federation of cases related to Chapter 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation of October 21, 2015.

According to paragraph 6 of the Review, the tax base for donations of property between individuals should be calculated at the cadastral value, since the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not directly indicate the need to calculate the amount of tax payment at market value. In accordance with Art. 3 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, ambiguities in regulations are interpreted in favor of citizens.

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However, the Federal Tax Service may insist on paying tax on the market value. In this case, you will have to defend your rights in court.

Recall that the tax is legally paid by the one to whom the apartment passed into ownership under a donation agreement.

The tax payment on donation is paid only after registration of the donated property in the property. The payment term is two weeks after the Federal Tax Service receives data on the completed transaction and registration of rights to the apartment. If the donee lives outside of Russia, he pays tax until he receives a certificate of ownership.

Preferential conditions for taxation in the case of a donation are not provided. Pensioners, low-income citizens and other persons belonging to the categories of citizens applying for benefits will pay the same 13% of the cadastral value of the gift.

Procedure for paying tax on a gift to a distant relative

After the donation agreement is registered, the new owner of the apartment is obliged to visit the Federal Tax Service by April 30 of the following year after the registration of the donation to fill out a declaration of income received.

If you ignore this requirement of the law, the tax office will send a notification to the address of the donee. For filing a tax return not within the prescribed period, penalties in the amount of one thousand rubles are imposed on the violator.

The procedure for paying tax under a donation agreement will be as follows.

The declaration of income and expenses is filled in the form 3-NDFL. It is better to take the help of a specialist, as for a person who does not deal with tax returns, this can be a difficult task. If an error is found in the document, the FTS officer may not accept the declaration.
The following documentation must be submitted to the territorial office of the Federal Tax Service at the place of residence: a completed 3-NDFL declaration, a civil passport, an extract from Rosreestr on registration of ownership, a deed of gift, a document on the transfer and acceptance of an apartment, if it was issued.
After checking the declaration and calculating the amount of gift tax, the Federal Tax Service will receive a notification of the tax amount and a receipt. The deadline by which the tax payment must be paid will be indicated in the notice.
The received receipt can be paid at any branch of the bank.

Donation tax must be paid before July 15 of the following year after the registration of the donation. Otherwise, penalties of 20% of the tax amount will be applied, or 40% if it is proved that the gift tax was not intentionally transferred.

Can I avoid paying real estate gift tax?

If you follow the letter of the law, it is not possible to avoid the obligation to pay gift tax on real estate. However, sometimes citizens try to circumvent the law.

So, for example, an apartment can be donated through a close relative. For example, gifting real estate to a nephew requires a tax payment. But if an uncle donates an apartment first to his brother, and he, in turn, gives it to his son under a donation agreement, then you will not have to pay tax on the income received. As a result, the transaction will be completed, but there will be no obligations to pay funds to the budget.

Another way that citizens use is to draw up a fictitious contract of sale. An uncle can “sell” an apartment to a nephew. In this case, the latter is not obliged to transfer the tax payment, and the uncle will avoid paying tax on income from the “sale” of the apartment if the apartment has been owned by him for more than three years. If the apartment is owned for a shorter period of time, you can reduce the amount of the tax payment by issuing a standard property deduction. In any case, the tax on an apartment purchased for a fee will be less than on a donated one.

If you have any questions regarding the gift tax to a close or distant relative in 2018-2019, please contact a lawyer for advice.

Last update: 01/30/2020

When thinking about donating real estate to someone, whether they are relatives or strangers, it should be remembered that the completion and execution of such a transaction is taxed. Therefore, you need to figure out what are the rights and obligations of the donor himself, and the gifted person - the new owner of the property. And if the case is complicated, do you need to resort to the help of lawyers.

tax rate

The Tax Code provides for the taxation of personal income tax (PIT):

all incomes of citizens of our country and foreign residents at a rate of 13%;
non-residents - 30%.

A resident can be not only a citizen of the Russian Federation, but also a foreigner. That is, a person permanently residing for more than 183 days in Russia in a calendar year. Moreover, a Russian who lives in another country for more than 183 days loses his resident status.

What amount is taxed?

If you received real estate under a donation agreement, then the object of taxation is:

NOMINAL (contractual) value of the apartment at the time of the transaction. This value is indicated in the contract as a descriptive part of the property (along with the cadastral number, address, area, etc.). The indicated value should not be less than 70% of the cadastral value, except if the cadastral value is not known or the cost of housing is less than 1 million rubles, or the cadastral value is less than 1,428,571 rubles;
when donating PART of a house or apartment, the taxable amount is calculated according to the value of the donated share of property at the same rate of 13%;
if the value is not specified in the donation agreement, only cadastral value.

In other words, if the amount of the gift under the donation agreement is not indicated, the cadastral value (indicated in the unified state register of real estate) becomes the reference point. If the value is indicated in the donation agreement, it is still compared with the cadastral one. And if it is less than 70% of the cadastral value, then 70% of the cadastral value is taken into account.

Examples:
1. The market value of the apartment is 3 million rubles, the tax will be 3 million * 13% = 390,000 rubles.
2. The market value of the apartment is 4 million rubles, a 1/3 share was donated, the tax will be (4 million/3) * 13% = 173,000 rubles.

See also the new calculation (apartments, houses, garages, dachas) will also be linked to the cadastral value, and not to the inventory value, as it was before.

Who is exempt from paying

The following are exempt from taxes on donating an apartment to a relative:

spouses;
Grandmothers and grandfathers;
parents (adoptive parents), their children (including adopted children);
grandchildren and granddaughters;
brothers, sisters (full and half-blooded).

This list is established by the Family Code. The exemption covers both residents and non-residents of the Russian Federation.

Giving an apartment to a close relative exempts him from paying tax. But when making a deal, the donee will incur additional. expenses: payment of state duty (for state registration of the transaction), drafting the text of the donation agreement, notary services (if necessary), etc.

If a close relative exempted from gift tax sells an apartment donated to him in the next 3 years, then he is not exempt from paying a tax of 13% on the sale of property (as it was owned for less than 3 years). In general, apartments with a value exceeding 1 million rubles are taxed. (1 million is a tax deduction).

Example: Parents gave their son an apartment in 2017, in 2019 he sold it for 2,500,000 rubles. Therefore, the amount of tax in 2020 will be (2.5 million - 1 million) * 13% = 195,000 rubles.

Other relatives are not exempt from taxation

son-in-law, daughter-in-law;
aunts, uncles;
nephews;
cousins, sisters;
cousins and grandparents and other relatives;
persons with no family ties.

For pensioners in this case, there are no benefits. If real estate is donated to a pensioner (not from the list of close relatives), then he is obliged to pay the same 13% on a general basis.

When the market (or cadastral) value of the donated apartment is not more than 1,000,000 rubles, is it necessary to pay tax or can a property deduction be applied?

If the donee is not from the list of close relatives, then tax is payable on the full amount. And no deduction (1 million rubles) is provided for when donating. Property deduction of 1 million rubles. only in case of subsequent sale of the donated apartment.

Other real estate rights

It is clear to everyone that real estate means:

flat;
private house (IZHS, garden house);
outbuilding, sauna, garage;
land plot.

It is also clear how and when the owners give it. But what if the gift is not the right of ownership, but other rights. For example, a house and the lease of the land on which it stands are given. Or the status of an equity participant in the construction of an apartment building is transferred free of charge. The legislator resolved this issue - all other property rights, except for the right of ownership, are not taxed upon donation. And regardless of the proximity of kinship.

Example: If a citizen ceded to another person the rights of a shareholder in a house under construction for free, then there is no need to pay tax. In the case of a house and rented land, the tax is paid for donating the house, but not for renting the land.

Who is required to declare income and pay tax

After registering the transfer of ownership in Rosreestr, the person who received the apartment as a gift (the donee) will have an obligation to declare the income received and pay the appropriate amount of tax. It is from this moment that the tax inspectorate will monitor the deadlines for submitting a declaration and paying personal income tax.

The rule is simple, in general you need to know two things:

The DONOR pays no taxes;

The donee must pay the tax on his own behalf. It is he who receives income (in material form, in the form of square meters in real estate) and its size is equal to the value of the property.

Tax resident pays at a rate of 13%, non-resident - 30% from face value.

What to do after the deal

In the year in which the property donation transaction was made, nothing is declared and nothing is paid. But next year, before April 30, the donee is obliged to submit a declaration in the form 3-NDFL to the inspection at the place of residence. And he is obliged to pay the amount of tax before July 15 of the year in which the declaration is filed. I.e:

Submission of a tax return not later than 30.04.
Transferring the amount of personal income tax to the budget no later than 15.07.

Example: the apartment was donated in January 2019 (in any month of 2019), therefore, the 3-NDFL declaration is submitted from the beginning of 2020 until 04/30/2020, and the tax must be paid before 07/15/2020.

Declaration and payment procedure

How to fill out a declaration

You can fill out the declaration yourself using the program (download the 3NDFL Declaration for 2019 "installation program" on the Internet). You can contact the specialists involved in such services.

In the declaration, the tax is calculated by indicating the contractual value of the property (in its absence, the cadastral value).

If the value is not indicated in the declaration (then it will not be accepted in case of personal submission to the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate). When handing over by mail, according to the result of a desk audit, the tax authorities will require you to submit a corrective declaration. The adjustment will focus on the cadastral value.

Important! If the donee is a close relative, then he is exempt from paying tax, and you do not need to submit any declarations. However, as part of a tax audit, the tax inspectorate may request a justification of kinship. In this case, it is required to submit documents confirming family relations (marriage certificate, birth certificate, passport of the donor and donee, court decision, etc.), but without the declaration itself.

Documents submitted to the tax authority

Making a declaration and submitting it to the tax authorities at the place of residence is mandatory for everyone who received an apartment as a gift. At the same time, no benefits are provided (except for the close relatives listed above). Nothing is attached to the tax authority along with the 3-NDFL declaration. But sometimes, in order to avoid conflicts with the IFTS, you can attach copies of:

donation agreements;
documents on the ownership of property;
cadastral passport and other technical documentation for the object.

Tax Calculation Options

if the calculation was made by the donee, then he should simply pay the calculated tax using the details of the IFTS at the place of residence (you can check the details on the website or at the IFTS when submitting a declaration);
if the calculation is carried out by the tax authority, then it will send by mail to the donee a NOTICE of tax calculation and a RECEIPT for payment. This option occurs when the gifted person himself does not declare income. As a rule, fines and penalties are added to it.
payment is made in any branch of the bank until July 15 of the year in which the declaration is submitted.

What threatens late declaration or payment of tax

In case of late submission of the declaration, the IFTS will send a notice of the missed deadline. Rosreestr informs the tax authorities about real estate transactions. If you forgot and missed the deadline for submitting the declaration, submit it as soon as possible. The more time passes after the deadline, the greater the amount of the fine. Penalties for violation of deadlines:

failure to submit a declaration- a fine of 1,000 rubles and 5% of the established tax amount for each month of delay, starting from May;
non-payment of tax - 20% of the established amount of personal income tax in case of initial non-payment of tax or 40% in case of repeated non-payment (in this case, non-payment is considered intentional);
penalties for late payment of taxes- calculated for each day of delay, starting from July 16 in the amount of - the amount of tax debt * the refinancing rate (6.25%) * 1/300 * the number of days of delay.

Penalties are charged:

or on a voluntary basis (at the request of the tax authority);
or through the bailiffs, the court, if the payer does not pay the tax and fines within the time specified in the notification.

Types of donation and their features

In addition to the real estate donation transaction subject to tax, there are other ways to transfer property to another person. What are the differences:

gratuitousness (conditions are excluded when the donee becomes dependent on the donor. When donating property, one cannot set conditions and oblige the donee to provide any services in return for the received property. For example, the desire to donate an apartment, but at the same time retain the right to live in it).
An increase, as a result of the transaction, in the property owned by the donee (for example, if there was one, own, apartment, then after the donation there were two of them).
Reducing (due to a donation transaction) the availability of property from the donor himself.
The owner-donor's desire to donate must be voluntary and intentional (the courts often consider lawsuits in which other persons claiming donated property try to prove that the donation was made under pressure, threats and deceit).
You can only give a gift to someone who agrees to accept the gift. Otherwise, the transaction can be challenged.

The listed signs are obligatory when making a donation and will be the basis for the legality of the donation in the event of any claims against the donor or the donee from other interested parties.

Donation methods

Directly an agreement on donation of real estate or its share

There are no options here: the donor draws up a deed of gift, registers the transaction and transfers his property to the full possession of the recipient of the gift - irrevocably.

Promise

An agreement is concluded under which the donor can promise to donate property to a specifically specified person. But there are options here - the donor can not fulfill the promise if, after some time, his living conditions or health condition have worsened, and because of which the standard of living will drop significantly. Or the one to whom the promise was made committed unlawful acts against his benefactor-giver or his family (he wanted to kill, for example).

Donation

It is done for the benefit of society or a particular person. Here, the target, generally useful value of the donated object must be indicated (such gifts are made by patrons and ordinary people for homes for the disabled, shelters, museums, social protection agencies, for people affected by various military conflicts and disasters). The advantage of this type of donation is that the donor subsequently has the right to tax benefits.

About giving away an apartment

The donation of an apartment implies at least two donation transactions. In each case, the donee is the beneficiary who is obliged to pay the tax. If the parties to each transaction are close relatives, then the obligation to pay tax does not arise either within the framework of each transaction or in the entire chain of transactions, from the first donor (for the first donation) to the last donee (for the last donation).

However, such a scheme can be seen by the tax authority, and within the framework of a desk audit, it can be recognized that the transactions were made for the sake of appearance, with the sole purpose of tax evasion (provided that the first donor and the last donee are not close relatives). Tax inspectors will have more confidence when all transactions are made one after another without significant time intervals. By the appropriate decision, the last owner will be charged additional tax. This can be challenged in court. There is no particular administrative and judicial practice in such cases.

If during the first donation transaction the donee pays tax (for example, he is not a close relative of the donor), then during the subsequent donation (transfer), even if the transaction is made back (from the donee to the donor), the tax is not returned, unless the donation transaction is declared invalid.

About the rules for issuing a donation

So that other applicants do not have a desire to sue the donated property, it is necessary to correctly draw up the contract, check the legal capacity of the party to the transaction, and clearly fulfill tax obligations. Suppose, at the time of the execution of the contract, the donor was registered with medical institutions, took strong drugs or was under the influence of alcohol, other relatives or persons claiming this property will be able to prove its invalidity.

The donation agreement should not include additional conditions, for example:

lifelong courtship - this is carried out by a life annuity contract;

the donor's maintenance or other financial obligations;

obtaining by the donee the rights to an apartment only after the death of the donor - that is, inheritance of housing.

If such conditions are specified in the contract, it can be canceled.

The donation of real estate to persons on whom the donor was dependent at the time of the transaction is not recognized as valid. For example, his attending physicians, educators, employees of social organizations and institutions, or their relatives.

Legally incapable and underage citizens are allowed to be participants in a donation transaction, but only as donee (you can give them, but you can’t accept gifts from them)!

To determine whether a real estate donation is taxable, it is necessary to establish the presence of family ties of the participants in the transaction.
So that other applicants do not have a desire to sue the property you donated from the one to whom you presented it (see:
- without delay register it in Rosreestr;
- pay the tax when donating an apartment on time;
- specify the legal capacity of the participants in the transaction.

If you have questions about the topic of the article, please feel free to ask them in the comments. We will definitely answer all your questions within a few days.

A gift from relatives can be money, real estate, transport and other property. Therefore, the question arises - is it necessary to consider a gift from a relative as income? Do we have to pay income tax in this case?

Gifts between close relatives are not taxed

According to par. 2 p. 18.1 Art. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, a gift from a close relative or family member is exempt from tax (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 06/01/2016 No. 03-04-05 / 31613).

Close relatives and family members are:

spouses;
parents (including adoptive parents);
children (including adopted children);
grandmother grandfather;
grandchildren;
brothers and sisters (full and half-blooded).

Example: The grandson gave the grandfather a car. According to par. 2 p. 18.1 Art. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the grandfather and grandson are close relatives, so the grandfather does not need to file a declaration with the tax authority or pay tax on the income from the gift.

Example: Lavrentieva Z.M. Husband donated an apartment. Since, according to par. 2 p. 18.1 Art. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the spouses are recognized as close relatives, then Lavrentieva Z.M. you do not need to declare the receipt of an apartment as a gift and pay income tax.

Note: Sometimes even in the case when real estate or vehicles are received as a gift from a close relative, the tax authority still sends a letter about the need to pay tax on income from the gift. When receiving such a letter, you should not worry - the tax authority often sends it to all transactions, without understanding between whom they are concluded. In this case, it is best to send a letter to the tax authority, in which to explain that the transaction was made between close relatives and should not be declared and taxed. Attach proof of relationship (such as a birth certificate) to the letter.

It also happens that the tax authority sends a letter not to the recipient of the gift, but to the giver, while assuming that a sale has been made. In this case, we recommend that the donor write an explanatory note to the tax authority and attach a copy of the donation agreement to it.

You can download an example of an explanatory letter here: Forms and forms.

Only donations of real estate, transport, shares, shares are taxed

If the gift came from a relative who is not related to relatives (see), then the income from the gift will be taxed only if the following are given:

real estate (apartment, house, room, land, etc.);
vehicles;
stock;
shares;

Example: In 2019, Zelenskaya U.T. I received an apartment worth 2.5 million rubles as a gift from my uncle. Since the uncle, according to par. 2 p. 18.1 Art. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, is not recognized as a close relative, then at the end of 2019 (until April 30, 2020) Zelenskaya U.T. will have to submit a 3-NDFL declaration to the tax office and pay tax in the amount of 2,500,000 x 13% = 325,000 rubles by July 15, 2020.

Example: A cousin gave Kozhikin A.S. for the wedding 200 thousand rubles. According to paragraph 18.1 of Art. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, cash income received from individuals by way of donation is exempt from taxation. Therefore, Kozhikin A.S. you do not need to file a 3-NDFL declaration with the tax office and pay tax on income from the gift.

Example: In 2019 Azernikova D.F. received a gift from her mother-in-law shares in the amount of 50,000 rubles. According to par. 2 p. 18.1 Art. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the mother-in-law is not recognized as a close relative, therefore Azernikova D.F. at the end of 2019 (until April 30, 2020) must submit a declaration to the tax office and pay tax on gift income in the amount of 50,000 x 13% = 6,500 rubles by July 15, 2020.

How can you avoid tax?

If you received an apartment, house, transport, stocks / shares as a gift from a close relative, then the question arises: is it possible to somehow avoid the tax or at least reduce it?

Unfortunately, there are no obvious solutions (such as, for example, tax deductions for the sale of property). At the same time, it is impossible not to mention that people often resort to "non-standard" / "black" methods:

1) Donation through a close relative. For example, a donation of an apartment by an aunt to her niece is subject to income tax. But if an aunt gives an apartment to her sister, and she, in turn, to her daughter, then you won’t have to pay tax. As a result, the donation will occur, and income tax will not arise.

2) The conclusion of a fictitious contract of sale. If an aunt wants to donate an apartment to her nephew, then she can conclude with him not a donation agreement, but a sale and purchase agreement. At the same time, the nephew will not have income tax, and the aunt:

will be exempt from tax if the apartment has been owned by her for more than 3 or 5 years;
will have to pay tax on income from the sale of an apartment if the apartment has been owned by her for less than 3 or 5 years (depending on the date of purchase of the apartment). However, in this case, the aunt will be able to use the standard deduction (1 million rubles) or the deduction for the cost of purchasing this apartment (read more in the article: How to avoid paying or reduce tax when selling a home).

In any case, when drawing up a contract of sale, income tax will be less than when drawing up a donation contract.

Is there a tax when donating an apartment in 2017 for individuals, what is its value and whether it always needs to be paid - all this is of interest to those who draw up a donation. Of course, most of these contracts are between relatives, so it is especially interesting whether exceptions are made for such transactions. Tax on donating an apartment to a relative in 2017: which of the relatives is subject to an exception for paying such a tax, and who in any case will be obliged to pay personal income tax, having received housing as a gift.

How is a donation of an apartment to a relative taxed?

Receiving a residential property as a gift is the same income generation as any other, because a person turned out to own quite expensive real estate, for which he did not pay a penny. Accordingly, the law says that a person who received real estate as a gift is obliged to pay personal income tax (PIT) to the state treasury.

However, it would not be entirely fair to tax the next of kin who chose gift over inheritance. As you know, a gift agreement has some, so many older people who are absolutely confident in the decency and honesty of their relatives, to whom they want to bequeath housing, simply donate it during their lifetime, removing all questions of inheritance and some other potential difficulties that could arise before the heir.

For this reason, Russian laws introduce an exception for a narrow circle of relatives who have the right to receive an apartment as a gift from each other and not pay tax. Such an exception is made for a relative from among the relatives - in the sense that there is in the legislation regarding who is included in this number.

Russian law considers the following relatives of a person to be close:

husband or wife,
mother or father,
son or daughter
Grandpa and Grandma,
grandson or granddaughter
brothers and sisters, including those who share only one of the parents, and not both.

Thus, the tax on donating an apartment to a relative in 2017 will not have to be paid only by those who are in a family relationship, which we have listed above. Receive housing as a gift from a cousin or brother, aunt or uncle, etc. without the need to pay tax, it will no longer work, you will need to pay personal income tax. It will be the same as the tax on donating an apartment to a non-relative in 2017, the law no longer sees any difference.

Tax on gifting an apartment to a non-relative

So, the tax on donating an apartment to a non-relative in 2017, as well as on donating to a relative who is not close, will need to be paid by drawing up an appropriate tax return. The standard tax rate is 13% of the cost of housing. That is, if housing, for example, is estimated at 1.5 million rubles, the new owner will have to pay 195 thousand to the budget. Of course, this amount is considerable and can be much higher for more expensive apartments, but, on the other hand, a person owns property that costs more than seven times more.

Some try to resort to various tricks in order not to pay tax on a gift - draw up fictitious sales contracts, etc., but you need to keep in mind that if the fraud is revealed, the contract will be declared null and void, so the most correct option is do everything honestly. Trying to save a relatively small amount and lose much more as a result is not the best, but a very likely outcome of such manipulations.