Marat Safiullin: Tatarstan citizens return 1.5bn rub in taxes

More than 186k Tatarstan residents have returned part of the costs of treatment and education

The Tax Code provides for a wide range of social tax deductions. It is possible to reduce the tax base for personal income tax on expenses incurred for charity, education, medical treatment, non-governmental pension provision, payment of voluntary pension and life insurance, as well as from 2022 — on the amounts paid for physical education and wellness services.

Over 12 months of 2023, 186 thousand declarations were received by the tax authorities of the republic with declared social deductions, for which a tax refund in the amount of 1.5 billion rubles was made. Of these, about 120 thousand citizens were granted a social tax deduction for medical expenses, 40 thousand citizens — for children's education expenses, and 25 thousand citizens — for their own education expenses.

More than 6 thousand citizens took advantage of the new social deduction for expenses on physical education and recreation services, to whom the tax amount of about 19 million rubles was refunded.

Taxpayers who are tax residents, receive income taxed by personal income tax at a rate of 13%, and personally paid for physical education and wellness services for themselves and their children under the age of 18 or up to 24 years old, if the children are studying full-time, can claim social tax deduction.

Maximum refund amount has increased to 19.5 thousand rubles

Many citizens are interested in how much of the cost can be deducted? If in 2023 you were engaged only in sports, were not treated, did not study, then the maximum deduction amount is 120 thousand rubles.

The total amount of all social deductions for the previous year should not exceed 120 thousand rubles, which means that you can get a refund from the budget in the amount of up to 15.6 thousand rubles. At the same time, the costs of children's education and expensive medical treatment are not taken into account when calculating the total amount.

In the current 2024, the limit on social tax deductions has increased from 120 thousand rubles to 150 thousand rubles. This increase will give the opportunity to receive a tax refund in the amount of up to 19.5 thousand rubles.

The maximum amount of expenses from which you can receive a tax deduction for a child's education has been increased from 50 thousand rubles to 110 thousand rubles. That is, the amount of tax to be refunded for these expenses has been increased to 14.3 thousand rubles.

Tatarstan citizens who pay for fitness classes, visits to sports clubs and individual workouts will have the opportunity to claim a tax deduction if the organisation or individual entrepreneur providing these services is included in the list, which is annually approved by the Ministry of Sports of Russia.

Like other social deductions, a deduction for physical education and wellness services can be obtained during the year through an employer or at the end of the year through the tax inspectorate at the place of residence by submitting a tax return under the 3-personal income tax form. The submission of the 3-personal income tax declaration becomes more convenient through the Taxpayer's Personal Account for Individuals service, which automatically pre-fills in most of the data. In this regard, I recommend opening a personal account on the website of the Federal Tax Service of Russia and filling out a 3-personal income tax declaration without leaving home via the Internet.

It will become easier to get a deduction

Tatarstan residents often wonder: is it possible to simplify the procedure for obtaining social deductions? Many of them have no time to collect certificates from medical and educational institutions and fill out declarations. Yes, to confirm expenses incurred before January 1, 2024, a set of supporting documents must be submitted.

However, the activities of tax authorities are constantly improved: improvements are being made to software products, changes are being made to tax legislation to expand and simplify the possibility of obtaining tax deductions.

For example, since January 1, 2024, unified documents have been introduced to receive social tax deductions for personal income tax — certificates of payment for services that confirm the actual expenses of individuals for treatment, training, insurance, and fitness. Each type of expense has its own certificate of payment for the relevant services. One no longer needs to provide other documents.

It also provides for the possibility of submitting such certificates confirming the actual expenses of taxpayers for services to the tax authority by organisations, individual entrepreneurs in electronic form — if they have the technical capability to interact with the tax authorities.

The issuance of certificates or the direction of information is carried out on the basis of an application from an individual in any form.

According to information received electronically in 2024 and successfully passed control, the tax authority will form a pre-filled application for social tax deductions for personal income tax in a simplified manner and place it in 2025 in the taxpayer's personal account. Before the pre-filled application appears in the personal account, the taxpayer does not need to perform any actions.

Thus, starting next year, 2025, it will be possible to receive social tax deductions for expenses in 2024 in a simplified manner without submitting a declaration on the 3-personal income tax form.

A similar simplified procedure for granting property and investment tax deductions has been in effect since May 2022.