How will the tax office know about the apartment being rented out in 2024?

Homeowners often rent out their homes. At the same time, many people want to receive income, but do not want to pay taxes. Methods of inspection by the tax authorities to identify illegal housing rentals. We’ll tell you how the tax authorities can find out about the illegal rental of an apartment and what measures to take to avoid getting a fine in 2024,” Alexander Shimansky, lawyer for the Sovetnik Center MCA, told Mail.ru Finance.

“According to the Tax Code, paying tax on income received from renting out an apartment is the responsibility of the homeowner,” the lawyer notes.

Moreover, taxes must be paid regardless of how long the apartment is rented for.

At the same time, the tax office has many opportunities to obtain information about apartments for rent.

The easiest way is to automatically track money transfers from one individual to another, who is a potential lessor.

This is easy to track: such payments are regular, take place on approximately the same dates of the month, and the transfer amount is a constant value.

“It’s just as easy to establish the fact of renting out an apartment to a company that rents housing to its employees, does this in accounting as an expense, and the other party to the agreement - the landlord - does not pay any taxes,” says the lawyer.

The presence of several apartments in a person’s ownership (and data on this is periodically provided by the Federal Tax Service Rosreestr ) also serves as a signal about the intended activity of leasing real estate, and, as a result, receiving possible undeclared income.

“The Federal Tax Service inspector has a reasonable question: why did a person acquire so many objects, because he cannot physically live at several addresses,” explains the lawyer.

In addition, the tax office has plenty of “potential volunteer assistants” who are ready to assist free of charge in solving a tax offense. These include local inspectors on whose territory the apartment is located, management companies, neighbors, former tenants, and even sometimes relatives of the landlord.

“All these people will be happy to notify the Federal Tax Service for any reason - a quarrel with the tenants’ neighbors (loud music, garbage on the staircase), arrears in utility bills, or simply resentment from relatives who were jealous of the landlord’s material benefits,” says the lawyer.

However, as a result of the above actions, the tax inspectorate will only establish the fact of residence of strangers on foreign territory, but not the fact of receipt of income.

However, collecting evidence of renting out an apartment for money is usually not difficult for the Federal Tax Service. Confirmation of receipt of funds can be testimony of witnesses, bank statements, receipts for receipt of cash.

“Believe me, the tenant will not defend the landlord and will provide proof of his legal presence in someone else’s apartment,” the expert believes.

And if the tax inspectorate manages to prove that the homeowner rented out the apartment without paying taxes, punishment will follow.

Firstly, a citizen will need to pay personal income tax - 13% of rental income.

Secondly, fines and penalties. If the landlord submits a tax return late, the penalty will be 5% for each month of delay. The maximum is 30% of the tax amount, the minimum is 1000 rubles.

If tax evasion was unintentional, the fine will be 20% of the amount of taxes. And if there is intent - 40%. Also, individuals may be charged a penalty for the unpaid amount: 1/300 of the Central Bank key rate daily.

For the case to reach criminal liability, the amount of unpaid tax by an individual must exceed 2.7 million rubles over three financial years. According to the lawyer, depending on whether the act committed is large or especially large, the punishment may be a fine of 100 to 500 thousand rubles or imprisonment for up to three years.

“However, a person who has committed a tax crime for the first time will be released from criminal liability if he fully pays the amount of arrears and the corresponding penalties, as well as the amount of the fine,” notes Alexander Shimansky.

Thus, there is no need to try to deceive the tax office. It is much easier to fill out your return on time and pay your taxes. It is most profitable to rent out housing if you register as self-employed.

“By paying 4% of the income, the homeowner will sleep soundly, have an appetite, and life will sparkle with new colors,” the lawyer concluded.

“This information is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an individual investment recommendation.”